Tatopani checkpoint to reopen on October 5

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s northern border checkpoint of Tatopani at Sindhupalchowk will resume operations from October 5.
The Nepali team led by Sindhupalchowk’s Chief District Officer, Umesh Prasad Dhakal, and a Chinese team led by Li Yulin, deputy director of the Foreign Office in Lhasa, agreed on Tuesday to reopen the checkpoint from October 5.

Dhakal said that the Chinese team will complete the necessary preparations by October 4 and goods from China will start arriving from October 5. However, Nepal will have to prepare a working team to unload the goods on the day the services resume, he said. Dhakal mentioned that they already have a group of 25 workers and need to add 29 more workers to unload the goods.

The checkpoint was closed on July 8, due to the landslide on the Nepal side on the request of the Nepali government. Later, after the landslide-affected road was repaired, Nepal had requested China to reopen the border but China was reluctant to open the border crossing by citing the risk of the looming glaciers on the Tibet side.