After widespread public concerns, Nepal has the raised the issue of the construction of the Russiawal-KhurdaLautan barrage over the Danav river by India with New Delhi, Minister for Water Resources Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar told parliament Monday.

Nepal has raised the issue in a communication with New Delhi through the Foreign Ministry because of “the government’s sensitivity to the issue,” he said. A technical team from the Water Resources Ministry has been sent to the area and will submit a detailed report Monday and will be presented to parliament, he said.

Altogether 100,000 people from 14 villages are likely to be affected by the dam construction, a study said. The unilateral construction of the barrage just six kms south of Lumbini will inundate the birthplace of the Buddha which is listed as a world heritage site, political parties and student groups said.

The barrage site is 200 metres from the border. The inundation of Nepal’s terai flatlands by the unilateral dam construction by India, a lower riparian state, has been a constant irritant in bilateral Indo-Nepal ties.

Bilateral ties soured last year after the construction of the Laxmanpur dam south of Banke, Badria districts in Utter Pradesh.