Disruption in ambulance services, food supply vehicles, press vehicles, tourist buses, and wedding parties among others have become a routine affair during such road blockades. While a patient has to be carried on the back to reach the hospital, a groom is now obliged to walk his way to the bride’s house on the wedding day.
In one incident, 22 years old Hem Bahadur Alemagar and 8 years old Amit Alemagar of Chitwan Shivanagar-2 were killed in a truck accident along the Prithvi Highway’s Yampaphant last Thursday. The relatives of the deceased persons have obstructed the road for the past two days demanding compensation.
Similarly, a bus killed a 16 years old student, Bishnu Timilsina, and Sagar Sapkota were killed when a bus hit their motorcycle along the Pokhara-Baglung highway. The kin of the victims have shut the highway for the past four days demanding compensation.
Sumod Poudel, a bridegroom from Parbat and his wedding party was stranded at Hemja due to the road blockade at Yampafaat along the Pokhara-Baglung highway. He and the wedding party waited for five hours seeking passage but the banda organizers were unrelenting. They had to walk five kilometers in rain leaving their vehicles behind. "We could neither convince the bandh-enforcers nor postpone the marriage. So, we had no way out but to walk. We are now worried about our way back," says Poudel.
Another victim of the blockade was a bunch of young INGO workers. They were annoyed because the banda organizers would not tell when they will ease the blockade.
"We thought we’d reach Kathmandu by Saturday but the situation is worse," says Uttam Sanjel, an INGO worker. "We have no idea when will we be leaving. We have not even eaten anything since yesterday [Saturday]."
The banda enforcers here are uncompromising. Even though the owner of the vehicle that killed the youths promised compensation as per the law, the banda organizers are demanding Rs 2.5 million. So a deal is nowhere in sight while thousands suffer due to the blockade.
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