Hundreds of passengers planning to visit Kathmandu have been stranded at Pokhara Tourist Bus Park. More than 300 passengers were forced to cancel their journey while some hired private transport to make the journey to the capital possible. [break]
President of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) Kedar Sharma said the agitating transport entrepreneurs had warned that they would force Nepali passengers to get off the bus halfway if the buses were operated. "Following the warning, we cancelled the booking of Nepali passengers," he said. But the transporters allowed buses carrying foreign tourists.
Besides warning, the protestors had also kept a close watch on the buses stopping them at Prithvichowk to make sure no Nepali was travelling. About three passengers were forced out of the bus by the agitators. Sharma said that even support staff of trekking and tour guides were not allowed in the buses.
Had NATTA been informed beforehand about the restrictions they wouldn´t have sold tickets to domestic travelers. "This is injustice for Nepali travellers. But we will carry Nepali travellers if the government provides security during such strikes," added Sharma.
During normal times, more than 18 tourist buses ply Pokhara-Kathmandu route daily, but only 10 buses are being operated since Friday due to the strike.
Krishna Thapa of Parbat who is scheduled to fly to Dubai on Sunday remains stranded in Pokhara. "I have been waiting for the last two days for a bus ticket. Even air tickets are not available," he said.
Some of the passengers were also found paying as high as Rs 1,700 per head to travel to Kathmandu by private vehicles. "Five of us have arranged a private vehicle as we can´t afford to remain stranded any longer," Gopalram Paudel, a passenger at Tourist Bus Park, said.
However, the agitating transporters denied having forced Nepalis from travelling by tourist buses. Regional coordinator of National Federation of Transport Entrepreneurs, Dharma Raj Adhikari said. "We just stopped tourist bus from carrying passengers in local route but not the passengers traveling in Pokhara-Kathmandu route," Adhikari said.
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