Traveling in microbuses can be harrowing, to say the least. Bus conductors try to haul in as many passengers as possible. For them, space seems to be an abstract notion and they consider it almost limitless. “Please adjust. Three people can fit in that seat if you all squeeze in a bit,” being the second favorite line of bus conductors next to “Climb in. There’s lots of space.” Space in this case almost always refers to the tiny area at the corner of seats.[break]
Photos: Bijay GajmerPhotos: Bijay Gajmer
A bus meant to ferry 15 passengers will carry double that quite easily. The scenario gets shoddier during rush hours and late evenings with people forced to stand plastered to one another and worse still, with their noses millimeters away from somebody’s armpits. Chances of winning the lottery seem higher than finding a seat during peak hours.
Sunita Shrestha and Sadhika Poudel, two 20-year-olds who are students at Kathmandu Engineering College, commute on microbuses every single day. Both girls agree that traveling in a microbus, though it saves time – they rush you to your destination in half the time it takes to get there – can be quite frustrating and risky.
“I always fear getting into an accident as the driving is so rash, especially during early mornings when the roads are comparatively emptier,” says Sunita as Sadhika nods in agreement. Furthermore, with only semi open windows for ventilation and the occasional gush of wind that rushes in when the door opens to let in more people into the already cramped vehicle, it is often suffocating and sweltering hot inside a microbus.
The law itself is faulty here. According to the law, vehicles that cover a distance less than 20 km can ferry passengers beyond their capacity, provided the door is slammed shut. In such a case, conductors make sure to push in people the way you would stuff mangoes and carrots in a jar of pickle.
“It’s extremely uncomfortable, and to make matters worse, buses race against one another, and this is causing accidents on a regular basis. The police must take punitive actions against the bus crew so that they abide by the rules,” says Tulasi Hari Koirala, Associate Editor at Gorkhapatra, who commutes to work on a microbus with his wife Devi Koirala, a Nepal Airlines Corporation employee.
“There’s no queue system at pickup points. The young and the able-bodied hustle their way in, and that way sometimes the elderly who can’t push their way in need to wait for another bus,” quips his wife.
Like Sunita, Sadhika and the Koirala couple, an overwhelming majority of people rely on public transportation to meet their daily mobility needs. But the microbuses zoom about without following any rules, or rather breaking every single rule, making what could have been a convenient mode of public transport a source of utter chaos on the city streets.
“The microbuses are neither efficient nor safe,” says Chandani KC a PhD student, who has stopped using the microbus service altogether and now prefers to ride the tempos that, albeit a bit slower, are much safer.
“I was quite recently hit by a microbus at Pulchowk. There’s a patch where there’s no footpath, and pedestrians are forced to walk on the road. I was hit on the arm with such force that I fell down face forward to the ground and hurt myself quite badly,” she says, adding that the microbus had fled by the time she got up.
Chandani’s brother Rohan KC, too, has a similar story to tell. He was hit by a microbus while crossing the road at Thapathali.
“I was on the zebra crossing, making my way to the other side when a microbus zipped past me, hitting me on my shoulder,” he says. To add insult to injury, the microbus driver was happily smiling away as he talked on the phone and didn’t even seem to care that someone might have been hurt or worse.
Most often, the unruliness of drivers and over-speeding vehicles are the commonest causes of major road mishaps and fatalities. With almost all drivers now in possession of a mobile phone, it has added an extra layer of hazard and a great deal of distraction for drivers all around the capital.
Various studies have shown that drivers take twice as long to react to an unexpected occurrence on the road when speaking on the phone or trying to send a text message while driving. A ringing phone can distract the driver for more than seven seconds even if it goes unanswered while driving.
Rohan further adds that the traffic police haven’t been able to do much with regards to managing public transportation and especially the “micromanics.” Inadequacies in traffic-rules enforcement and the subsequent devil-may-care attitude of the microbus drivers are spelling doom for road users in the city with accidents being daily occurrences.
DIG Keshab Adhikari, Chief of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Department (MTPD), however, offers a different side to the story. While he admits that the microbus drivers are careless and only pretend to follow the rules if they notice a traffic police en route who they fear will penalize them, it’s also every commuter’s responsibility to see to it that they themselves don’t contribute to worsening of the situation.
“The public blames the police and the police in turn try to pin the blame back on them. This will perhaps never end, but I think as far as the case of public transport, and more importantly, microbuses is concerned, it’s a 50-50 scenario,” says DIG Adhikari, adding that his Department is working on plans to put an end to issues regarding the microbuses and the public too should note down the bus number and report it to the traffic police in case of rule violations.
DIG Adhikari claims that the MTPD is doing whatever possible to book offenders. Out of the 2,882 microbuses that ply on the roads of Kathmandu, around 400-500 are penalized every single day. But he also mentions that the police are often hamstrung since passengers protest when their bus is detained for a few minutes for penalizing the crew.
What is strange and somewhat quite absurd is the fact that though passengers complain of a mismanaged public transport system, especially microbuses, the same people don’t regard breaching of rules a serious issue when they are riding in one.
There is also little hope of improvement in the conditions unless the government implements strict rules and the police work extra hard in enforcing them. Many believe a campaign like the anti-drunk driving would surely help. The government can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to a situation that’s growing worse by the day.
However, Devi Ram Bhandari, spokesperson at Department of Transport Management, also agrees with DIG Adhikari and believes that only when and if the government and the public work together can this issue be tackled.
“The public also doesn’t want to wait. On one hand, they complain about lack of rules, and on the other hand, they will not think for a minute before hopping into an overflowing bus,” says Bhandari, adding that most people won’t give up their seats to the elderly, and in general, don’t extend even basic courtesy, either, but expect to be treated with the highest decorum.
Bhandari’s statement rings true without a shadow of doubt. The very people who push their way in will complain about having to do so. Commuters, too lazy to walk even to the bus stop five minutes from their home, will stop a bus right before their gates, causing a vehicle racing at the speed of 40 km/hour on the congested Kathmandu roads to come to a sudden stop, leading to traffic jams and accidents.
While the MTPD works on plans and till the time it materializes, it falls on every individual to do their part to deal with this problem. Don’t get on or get off anywhere. There’s a reason why there are bus stops. Stand in line when you’re there; let the pushing and shoving be. Wait for the next bus – you know it will come in five minutes – when there are no seats left. It’s better than perching yourself on the edge of the seat which is already forcibly stuffed beyond its capacity, or standing throughout the trip. It’s time to take the matter into your own hands and do your bit to put an end to the circuses running on the streets.
cillakhatry@gmail.com
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