Venkatesh Iyer
NEW DELHI, Oct 1: There is nothing more beautiful than going out of the way to make life beautiful for others, thus goes the saying. An event of such a nature was witnessed at the Indo-Nepal border on Wednesday when purely on humanitarian grounds the authorities of both the countries allowed a brief opening of the International Dharchula (Jhula) Bridge in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand.
It was to help facilitate a one-month-old ailing girl from Nepal to cross to India with her parents for treatment.
The bridge, which was closed in March to contain the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, was opened for 20 minutes for the family of the girl to enter India to seek medical care in Pithoragarh. The family had sought India’s help through social workers and the Pithoragarh district administration. Opening of the bridge for the ailing girl was also used for allowing 138 more Indian and Nepali citizens from both the countries to go across the borders to hunt for livelihood, educational needs and health-related issues.
The girl’s family has thanked the Indian authorities for allowing the movement. From a medical facility in Dharchula, she will be taken to a hospital in Pithoragarh for treatment.
SSB inspector Kashmir Singh has informed that the bridge was opened for the girl’s treatment but the applications of a few more people were also taken into consideration for crossing the border. “After assessing and discussing the seriousness of the situation both Indian and Nepalese authorities were convinced and permitted the opening of the bridge for 20 minutes,” he said.
Nepal and India share a 275 km long border covering four districts Dharchula, Baitadi, Dadeldhura and Kanchapur of Nepal and three in Uttarakhand, India, Pithoragarh, Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar.
Nepal recently has been setting new border observation posts (BOP) and has established three new ones taking the tally to 15. The recent addition is at Tatopang, Rupaligad in Dadeldhura district and Datu in Dharchula district.