Taking advantage of the corrupt and permissive nature of the state machinery and the long-drawn political transition, transporters’ cartels, although banned by law, have been operating freely in this country. Known as syndicates, these cartels make their own rules. They acquire monopolistic rights in operation and pricing of their services. They also procure virtual impunity for their fellow operators in traffic-related offenses. They issue their own road permits. They fix queue charts that dictate which bus/truck shall embark on the road and which one will await its turn. They fix fares for goods and passengers. They collectively disregard safety and anti-pollution measures introduced by the authorities.
Nobody can defy the decree of a syndicate and remain in the industry. Newcomers entering the market with an aim to provide better services with competitive prices or existing ones trying to free themselves from the clutches of syndicates are vanquished with the power of money, muscles and joint actions of the transport mafia. Disobeying operators, if any, are thrashed and their vehicles vandalized. Poor commuters and users have no option but to endure the vehicle of the syndicate’s choice and pay whatever price they fix.
Syndicates levy a portion of the huge earnings of their fellow members on a periodic basis. The money is spent to buy patronage of politicians, to bribe officials from regulatory agencies and to secure impunity from police actions. The fund is also used to save killer-drivers from being prosecuted and to compensate them lavishly in case punishments cannot be averted. Punishments, however, are rare.
Recently, a bus company killed and injured several pedestrians in an obvious act of negligent and reckless driving in Chabahil, Kathmandu. The ‘accident’ was only the latest in a series; the company has a long history of similar incidents. However, transport operators never learn from mishaps and mistakes. In the face of public outrage, they promise to change their methods only to backtrack afterwards once the dust settles or the media attention shifts.
In case of killer-drivers, they have nothing to fear except the ‘instant justice’ of an infuriated mass, should they be caught at the site of incident. Once on run, they are too powerful to be apprehended as they are members of workers’ unions patronized by powerful political parties. These unions and syndicates apply various pressure tactics to secure acquittal of their fellow workers. Everything from buying officials to intimidating witnesses and victims are tried in the process. In case the tactics don’t work, syndicates resort to collective actions like gherau (picketing) or chakkajam (transport strike) to press for their demands; governments mostly yield at this point.
In case of killer-drivers, they have nothing to fear except the ‘instant justice’ of an infuriated mass, should they be caught at the site of incident. Once on run, they are too powerful to be apprehended as they are members of workers’ unions patronized by powerful political parties.
Public transport drivers violate all traffic and safety rules including the one regarding speed and lane. Designated stops mean nothing to them; to collect just one more passenger they abruptly halt the vehicle even if it is the middle of a busy road. No matter how crowded, congested and narrow the road is or how intense the traffic is, overtaking every vehicle ahead, from either side, is their driving mantra. That such a driving is bound to result in traffic jams and even accidents means little to them.
Mostly bus and truck drivers are the former helpers of the same vehicle. After some years of driving, usually when the present driver turns into sahu (owner) of the vehicle, for reasons of trust and control, he appoints his helper as ‘successor’ even if the latter may not be properly trained to drive. Obtaining a driving license for him won’t be a big deal; if the bribe authorities ask for is exorbitant, there are always unscrupulous agents to dispense a look alike against a much less fee. All such drivers are poorly-educated on safe and good driving and much worse on the value of human life and professional ethics; uneducated they already are.
Traffic police, who are supposed to supervise and order drivers, are the most underprivileged, have low morale, are poorly-manned and a badly-equipped lot even among an already corrupt and politicized police force in this country. They are incapable of adequately policing even the wayward motorcyclists that figure very high in traffic rule violations, let alone the syndicated transporters.
The services, if any, that public transports provide are poor and sub-standard and they fall short of safety requirements. Microbuses with seating capacity of 15 persons pack up to twice the number. Commuters hanging outside half-open doors, passengers tussling with each other in makeshift and improvised seats, squeezed bodies frantically seeking foot space to stand up draw a quintessential portrait of our public transport. Pick pocketing and sexually-perverted men pressing against the private parts of women taking advantage of the crowd are added dimensions of the landscape. Public vehicles operating outside city area are even worse with humans and livestock squeezed together.
Coming back to the recent accident in Chabahil, after some days of immobilization, the company in question resumed its operations, albeit in a different manner. This time around, as the people of Chabahil constantly came out on the streets in big numbers demanding either closure of the ‘killer’-bus company or arrest of the absconding driver, the company came with an outrageous strategy—it decided to change the name, logo, emblem, color and paint of its fleet to disguise their previous appearance so that the agitating people would not recognize that the buses belonged to the ‘killer’ company.
The authorities have turned a blind eye toward all this drama of suffering and cheating. So have the politicians. And, so have the self-styled champions of ‘civil society’ who, unable to see anything beyond their political (partisan?) agenda, are not interested in issues like this. Thanks to all, it is business-as-usual for the transport mafia.
jeevan1952@hotmail.com
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