The dispute started after KTEC brought buses from outside the district to operate Capital Bus Service (CBS) on Surkhet-Kathmandu route.[break]
As soon as the first bus of CBS left Surkhet for Kathmandu on Tuesday evening, it was vandalized by members of FWRTEC. The KTEC members retaliated by vandalizing buses operated by the FWRTEC. Until Tuesday night, two dozen buses belonging to the two committees were vandalized, according to the police.
The FWRTEC has vowed not to allow operation of buses owned by individuals outside Surkhet on the route, while the KTEC is adamant on operating the buses.
The dispute has also kept buses operating in Surkhet off the road, leaving SLC examinees stranded.
Nanda Kandel of Surkhet who has to appear for the exams at Adarsha Higher Secondary School center in Dailekh, is worried that she might miss the exams.
"The exams start tomorrow. I am still in Surkhet," she said. "Who will be responsible if I miss the exams?" Tulasi Sunar is facing similar problem. "If I miss a paper, a whole year´s hard work will go in vain," she said.
About two dozen students like Nanda and Tulasi were loitering in the Surkhet bus park on Wednesday morning. They requested Chief District Officer Basudev Adhikari to make arrangements for taking them to their exam centers in Dailekh. But the CDO expressed his inability to do so.
Other passengers seeking to reach Dailekh, Nepalgunj, and Salyan, among other places, have also been stranded.
To make matters worse, the Nepal Transport Workers´ Association, Surkhet chapter, has announced closure of the Dailekh-Surkhet route for three days to protest the attack on Bal Krishna Khadka, a conductor of a bus, in connection with the dispute. The association has warned to enforce an indefinite strike if the culprits are not arrested and punished.
Ganesh Bahadur Thapa, president of the association, said in a statement, that Khadka was attacked with sharp weapons by Ganesh Thapa and Bharat Khadka.
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