Women and children under the banner of Sariswa Nadi Bachao Andolan stage a dharna in Raxaul on Wednesday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, June 1: Residents of Raxaul town and adjoining villages in Bihar blocked vehicular movement across the India-Nepal border for nearly seven hours today during their protest over an environment-related issue.

Raxaul, a sub-divisional town in East Champaran district located around 215km north of Patna, is also known as the gateway to Nepal as most vehicles carrying civil supplies from India to the Himalayan country pass through it before crossing the international border.

The impact of the blockade was visible at both the northern and southern ends of the town with a long queue of trucks and other heavy vehicles that had been stranded owing to the protest.

Local administration officials claimed that those plying on the route were given the option of taking an alternative path. “We had deputed magistrates and police officials to keep the situation under control and also to guide vehicles to the alternative route,” Raxaul sub-divisional officer Jitendra Sah said.

Those caught in the blockade, however, had something very different to offer. “I am standing here for the past five hours and do not know for how long the blockade is going to last,” said Sagar Rahi, a truck driver from Nepal.

Organised under the banner of the Sariswa Nadi Bachao Andolan, thousands of residents, among them school children, sat on a dharna on NH 28A to protest against the alleged failure of the Nepal government to prevent dumping of untreated waste in the river Sariswa on whose banks the town is located.

Local college teacher Anil Sinha, who heads the Sariswa Nadi Bachao Andolan, and Paschim (West) Champaran MP Sanjay Jaiswal led the dharna. Local traders kept their shops closed in the forenoon to join the protest.

Giving teeth to the protest, about 50 Nepal residents too joined the dharna.

Sariswa is a tributary of the Burhi Gandak river and originates from a small hill at Pathlahia, in Nepal. The hill is full of medicinal plants which add to the quality of the river water. The river flows southwards from the place of its origin. After flowing for about 15km in Nepal, it enters India at Raxaul.

A proliferation of industrial units near Birgunj, a major town of Nepal which is located between the origin point of the river and Raxaul, have, however, adversely affected the quality of the river water, which has become black and carries a foul smell due to the release of untreated waste by these units. This has led to the presence of high level of mercury, lead, copper, arsenic and cadmium in the Sariswa waters.