‘Public transport and air ticket not easily available for Dashain’

Kathmandu, Oct 7: Number of people leaving Kathmandu for their hometown for Dashain celebrations has been on the rise.

It is now difficult to get long-distance public transport and air tickets. Chief of Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office and Deputy Inspector General of Police Bharat Bahadur Bohara informed that 363,164 people have left the Kathmandu Valley from September 30 to October 6 to celebrate Bada Dashain.

A total of 16,465 people left Kathmandu from 6.00 pm Saturday to Sunday morning. Vehicles are now seen stuck at the checkpoints and highways with the rise in the number of people travelling outside the Kathmandu valley for festive celebrations. Drivers commented that the roads are broken and washed away in some places, causing huge huge trouble to the drivers and passengers.

Lokesh Singh, a local of Kailali, said that most of the citizens were forced to stay in the Kathmandu Valley since they could not go home even during Dashain due to difficulty in getting bus and plane tickets. He said, “Tickets for buses and air have not been easily available, I got a seat because I had already booked and paid for a ticket earlier”. He added, “My friends have left in Kathmandu for not getting tickets. How bad it is”. Passengers are now forced to travel by bus and air by paying high prices for the festive celebrations.

Deepak Bahadur Khatri said that some long-distance passengers were found at Gongbu Bus Park in Kathmandu to go to Achham from Kathmandu, who were forced to travel even after staying in the bonnets of the bus.