Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh: India’s Sonauli border crossing with Nepal reopened Friday after a four-day shutdown, easing a bottleneck of hundreds of trucks and drivers stranded on the Indian side as protests roil Nepal.
The resumption of traffic at the key checkpoint in Maharajganj district has allowed convoys carrying onions, coconuts and other perishables to move into Nepal, where shortages have deepened amid a nationwide “Gen Z” uprising triggered by a social-media ban and frustration over corruption.
Drivers said the stoppage had caused heavy financial losses and left them in limbo. Vishnu, a trucker hauling coconuts from Tamil Nadu to Kathmandu, described four anxious days at the closed gate. “Hopefully it is all good ahead in Kathmandu,” he said. “I am a little scared, but at least we had food and water while waiting.”
Fuel scarcity in Nepal has added to the disruption. With petrol stations shuttered across the country, Nepalese trucks have begun crossing into India to buy diesel and gasoline. “There is no fuel there,” one driver told reporters. “The government sent us to India to purchase fuel. All pumps are closed.”
Indian security personnel have also intercepted dozens of people attempting to slip across the frontier amid the turmoil. The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) said 67 inmates, including a woman, were apprehended at various checkpoints after escaping jails in Nepal.
According to The Himalayan Times, Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population put the death toll from the protests in the Kathmandu Valley at 34, with more than 1,360 people injured nationwide. The unrest has prompted curfews, transport blockades and political manoeuvring over a potential interim government in Kathmandu.
For traders and border communities, Friday’s reopening offered a measure of relief — but also uncertainty about how long the fragile normalcy will hold.
