PITHORAGARH: In what may lead to fresh stoking of tensions between India and Nepal, the Nepalese government is gearing up to conduct a census in the Kalapani region of Pithoragarh district over a year after it endorsed a new map that included Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as part of its territory. Nepal’s census exercise, its 12th, began on November 11 and will end on November 25.
Sources told TOI that the census is sought to be conducted in Gunji, Nabi and Kuti villages of Kalapani. They added that Nepal’s central bureau of statistics, which is assigned the task, is exploring ways to count population figures since it will not be possible to send teams to visit the villages. “In all likelihood, it will be an indirect census, in which the number of households will be counted using satellite imagery and other technology,” said a source.