Indian tourists using Kalidaha border point to visit Lumbini

By Laxman Paudel,Bhairahawa, Feb. 4: The number of Indian tourists coming to Nepal through the Kalidaha-Kakarhawa border point has increased in recent days. According to tourism entrepreneurs of the region, a significant number of Indians are coming to Lumbini through this border point.   

Around 30 per cent Indians arrive in Lumbini through this transit point while others  come  from the Belahiya-Sunauli point. Indian tourists said that it is easier to reach the birthplace of the Buddha of through the Kalidaha-Kakarhawa border point. Lumbini is at a distance of 10 kilometres from Kalidaha while it is 20 kilometres from Belahiya.

However, traders informed that tourists from the countries other than India were still using the Belahiya-Sunauli point because there is no immigration office at Kalidaha. That is why foreign nationals who require visas to enter Nepal have to come through Belahiya.

Businesses do not mind though as the increased number of Indians has boosted the local economy, trader Shamsuddhin Dhuniyan said.

Govinda Gyawali, president of the Lumbini Hotel Association (LHA), also called the arrival of Indians good news. “There are more Indians using the Kalidaha border in recent days. This bodes well for us,” he said. 

To further facilitate tourist arrivals through the border point, LHA and other trade organisations are working to open a customs point at Kalidaha. The border is currently only recognised as a ‘small custom’ (Chhoti Bhansar), hence large cargo vehicles are not allowed to pass through this point.

“We are demanding the establishment of both an immigration and a customs office here,” Gyawali said. “This will allow large vehicles and international tourists to use this border point.”

However, businesses in Bhairahawa are opposed to this demand. 

“On the one hand, we want tourists to stay in Lumbini longer and on the other, we want an immigration office at Kalidaha!” expressed Kishor Joshi, vice-president of the Siddhartha Hotel Association. “If we open an immigration office there, tourists will come to Lumbini, visit and return the same day. It will damage livelihoods here,” he said.