Truck operators report Rs 200-250 crore daily due to stranded vehicles at North Bengal-Nepal border

Kolkata: Several crores have been lost as hundreds of trucks are stranded in North Bengal-Nepal border in Siliguri’s Panitanki region from Monday with losses in tune of Rs 200-250 crores per day, truck association said. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is camping in North Bengal, along with District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police from North Bengal districts, to monitor the situation in North Bengal, which shares international borders with Nepal, the country witnessing unprecedented violence and protests.

“For the last three days, there has been losses to the tune of Rs 200 to 250 crore loss per day. The trucks from Bengal to Nepal carry machinery parts, fly ash, coal etc and smaller trucks carry perishable items,” Sajal Ghosh, General Secretary of Federation of West Bengal Truck Operators’s Association, said. Life saving medicines and food items are also carried in the trucks.

Ghosh told ET that the trucks are stranded in the Panitanki area of Siliguri from Monday as they could not cross the border and off-load the goods. “The trucks generally off-load the goods by entering Nepal from the Panitanki area. The trucks travel a few kilometres inside Nepal, off-load and return. Goods are kept in the store houses and travel to different parts of the country. With borders getting sealed, they are now standing in India making long queues,” Ghosh said.


Indo-Nepal border in North Bengal’s Panitanki is being guarded by SSB in close coordination with state police. Strict vigil is also being kept on the bridge which connects Nepal and West Bengal’s Panitanki.

Guv, CM in North Bengal

Banerjee is on a three-day administrative tour of north Bengal. “I am staying in North Bengal monitoring the situation. Chief Secretary Manoj Pant will also be monitoring. Our state administration and police, including District Magistrates and Police Superintendents, from the North Bengal districts, are monitoring the situation. Nepal is our neighbouring country. Incidents of violence have happened in the neighbouring country,” the Chief minister said.

Asked about Bengali tourists stranded in Nepal, Banerjee said, “Indian tourists are stranded in Nepal, including Bengalis who love to travel. I request the tourists to wait for a few days and we will bring them back. The Bengal administration is closely coordinating the matter with GOI. They will come back safely.”

Banerjee said that she has been saddened by the incidents of violence happening in Nepal. She even wrote a poem on it. “Nepal was ruled by the Left -Maoist government. We have no relationship with the Left.” But still the incidents of violence disturbed her. “A person was burnt alive and people are rejoicing–this cannot be part of humanity. Humanitarian things should be learnt from Bengal. Some people work in their self-interest in times of trouble. I always try to help people.”

Banerjee will stay in North Bengal today and return to Kolkata tomorrow, if peace returns in Nepal. Otherwise, she will stay there and continue to monitor the situation in Nepal. “We have our responsibility in the time of crisis,” she pointed out.

Banerjee reiterated that she will not comment on the disturbance in Nepal as it is not a state matter. “It is the matter of the Ministry of External Affairs. It is not our internal state matter,” she said.

West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose is also visiting the Indo-Nepal bordering areas of West Bengal’s Panitanki on Wednesday, as part of his visit to North Bengal. “This visit is part of my routine visit to the bordering areas. I have been regularly visiting bordering areas regularly. I will assess the situation there and talk to people in the bordering areas. I will not comment on the Nepal situation,” Bose said today.
Police Helpline
West Bengal Police has set up a dedicated helpline for tourists stranded in Nepal. If you or someone you know requires assistance for returning to India through Panitanki or Pashupati Check Post under Darjeeling district,. Mobile/Whatsapp number: 9147889078 Landline number: 0354-2252057
First-hand accounts

Some Nepalese people, from across the border, are entering India through Panitanki with their families, from neighbouring Nepal villages for safety. Two Bengalis from Kolkata return as their vehicle was attacked by protestors.

“My house is in Nepal. Gen-Z group is setting ablaze government buildings to stop corruption. The commoners’ houses are not targeted. We saw protests and fire everywhere. My house is in the bordering area, so I have entered India,” a Nepali citizen, entering India with his family, told media persons.

“Trouble started on Monday. I went there for work and thought, would be able to finish it. The hotel owner told us to return. On our way back to Raxaul, around 50-100 protestors stopped our vehicle and tried to set it ablaze. After several requests by the driver, who was Nepali, they allowed us to take a different route. The situation was very scary,” said two residents of Kolkata, who returned through the Raxaul border in Bihar today.