When prospect travelers near them, they announce their services loudly. One of these motorcyclists advertised his services and prices, "Motorcycle ride for Biratnagar! Rs 300 for a person and Rs 600 for two." The rates differ from one motorcyclist to another and depend on the bargaining power of the passenger and the hour of the day at which the travel aid is sought. With no other means of transportation, desperate commuters are forced to accept whatever rates the motorcyclists demand.Although means of transportation such as bicycles, bikes, and rikshaws used to be allowed to commute in the past bandas, the ongoing bandas imposed by the United Tharuhat Struggle Committee and United Democratic Madheshi Front (UDMF) have strictly prohibited the usage of such means of transportation.
The rate of fares differs from one motorcyclist to another. And the imposition of exorbitant charges by the motorcyclist has left many desperate commuters frustrated. "I paid Rs 800 yesterday for their service. Now I have to pay the same amount again to return home," said Rabindra Sundas, sharing his experience. "I have to travel back and forth to Biratnagar a lot. They charge very expensive fare for the service especially in the morning and evening. It can go even go above Rs 1,000," he said expressing his displeasure over the services.
Sonu Chaudhary of Itahari-9 said he has been providing motorcycle transportation service since last week. He is a mason and used to be very busy building houses before bandas. "There is neither house building materials in the market nor any works for us. We have to look for an alternative to earn our living," he said.
Ali Miya of Itahari-9, who has been working as mason for past 23 years, said he would not be able to feed his family if he is not involved in providing motorcycle transportation service. "It would not be viable for me to feed the family of 11 otherwise," he said. "I've adopted this means to feed my family for the past 22 days as the bandas were hindering poor people like us from earning an honest livelihood."
Banda enforcers are taking advantage of their own banda by providing the motorcycle ride services. They themselves have been transporting workers, tourists and general public back and forth between Biratnagar and Itahari by motorcycles, which is just about 22 km ride. "It's a non-stop motorcycle ride service for half-an-hour until commuters reach their destination," a motorcyclist said.
They confesse that they have links and permissions from the cadres of United Tharuhat Struggle Committee and UDMF to provide such services. "Banda enforces recognize us and know we are banda supporters. None of us has been obstructed from providing such services," said Prakash Chaudhary of Itahari-7. He, however, agreed that some motorcyclists had charged high fares in past. "Some of the passengers have complained of high fares. Now we are charging very reasonable fares," he added.
These motorcyclists claim that their fares are reasonable while pointing to the need of maintaining their two wheelers. "There are also various problems we face while providing our service," said Dinesh Chaudhary of Duhabi. "We need to fill petrol, change lubircants and maintain the bike's condition. In a day we are able to save around Rs 700 to Rs 800 per day."
Besides them, other general public are not allowed to provide such services. They have to various hassles and some time even end up being vandalized by the protestors. At present, more than 500 motorcyclists have been providing transportation services along wht Itahari-Biratnagar section of the Koshi Highway. These motorcyclists ferry passengers unobstructed while rickshaws are denied from delivering their services to passenger.
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