NEW DELHI: India and Nepal have decided to use drones to map encroachments along ‘Dasgaja’ areas — the 10-yard no-man’s strip along the international boundary. The two countries will also look at “cross-border occupation”, where citizens of one nation farm, live on or hold land falling on the other side, across the 1,880km open border.The decision was taken at the 13th meeting of Survey Officials Committee, led by deputy chiefs of Nepal’s Survey Department and Survey of India, in Lucknow last week. Officials said the exercise will create a jointly verified technical record of affected areas, which can later help the two countries negotiate removal of encroachments, restoration of land or compensation.The issue returned to Nepal’s political centre stage after PM Balendra Shah told Parliament in May that “Nepal had also encroached on Indian land”. The remark came when Shah was questioned about Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani — territories under India which Nepal claims as its own — and triggered opposition protests. Nepal’s foreign ministry later clarified that Shah was referring to Dasgaja encroachments and cross-border occupation, not territorial claims.Nepal Survey Department spokesperson Dayanand Joshi said, “It has been decided to map cross-border occupation using drones.” He added, “This includes cross-border occupation and also encroachment of Dasgaja.”Border expert and former Survey Department director general Buddhi Narayan Shrestha said the decision could help settle disputes that have lingered for decades. “Indian farmers have encroached on the land of Nepali farmers along the border, and Nepali farmers have also encroached on the land of Indian farmers to some extent. I call this cross-border land grabbing,” he said.Shrestha said his 2005 field study found Indian farmers occupying Nepali land at 84 locations and Nepali farmers occupying Indian land at 27 locations. He said such disputes arose where boundary pillars were missing or mistakes were made during local land use. “It will take some time for technicians from Nepal and India to compile such a list,” Shrestha said. “Once the data is in hand, the decision on how to resolve the issue should be made through negotiations by higher-level officials sitting at the table.
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”Shrestha cited Nepal’s past border demarcation with China, where local officials from Tibet and Nepal resolved similar disputes through sale windows and compensation. He said nearly 42 per cent of the 8,553 border pillars shown on maps are yet to be installed, making drone mapping crucial for preventing village-level disputes from turning into diplomatic flashpoints.
