Western Nepal Bus Entrepreneurs´ Committee and four Gandaki-based transport committees have locked horns, accusing each other of breaching past agreements. They have not let passengers slip through Ramdi Bazaar, which divides Palpa and Syangja districts.
Passengers coming from Pokhara and Syangja are forced to get off the buses at Ramdi and walk past Ramdi to board another bus to go to Palpa or Butwal. Passengers coming from Butwal and Palpa, too, have to walk over the Ramdi Bridge to ride bus on the other side.
Transport committees have not exempted even tourists, children, elderly and physically disabled passengers from walking. All of them have to walk almost a kilometer dragging their heavy baggages.
The Western Nepal Bus Entrepreneurs´ Committee has accused four transport committees based in Gandaki zone of breaching past agreement. “We had agreed to let our buses queue up at Prithvi Chowk in Pokhara for 20 more minutes to wait for passengers,” Ganesh Basyal, president of the committee, said. “But, our buses are not allowed to stay there.”
On the other hand, Pushpa Pokharel, secretary of Gandaki Mini Bus Entrepreneurs´ Committee (GMBEC), accused the western committee of not following 15 days-a-month system as per the agreement. “We had decided to take out our buses from the place every alternative day,” Pokharel said.
For days ago, Syangja Chief District Officer (CDO) Nandi Kishor Tripathi had tried to help both parties reach an agreement but in vain.
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