Amid mounting fuel crisis due to a nearly two-week Madhesi-led blockade at border checkpoints with India, Nepal today started running free bus services in Kathmandu to facilitate the travel of city-dwellers ahead of Vijaya Dashmi and Diwali festivals.
Metropolitan Traffic Police (MTP) Kathmandu has started the free bus services operational on two main routes in the capital for about three hours in the morning and in evening, MTP said in a statement.
The bus services, ahead of Vijaya Dashmi which begins on Tuesday and Diwali, is to facilitate the travel of people in the capital ahead of the festivals, it added.
Nepal is facing an acute shortage of fuel and cooking gas due to the continued blockade by Madhesi-led agitators on the Nepal-India border checkpoints for about two weeks.
Madhesis -- Indian-origin inhabitants of the southern plains -- and Tharu ethnic groups are protesting for more representation in the newly-promulgated Constitution.
They also see the Constitutional model to split Nepal into seven provinces as flawed and discriminatory to their rights. More than 40 people have died in the agitations.
The ongoing blockade has cut off supply of fuel and essential goods to Nepal and left several loaded trucks and tankers stationed on the Indian side of the border.
Nepal LPG Dealers' Association said thousands of fuel tankers, stationed on the Indian side of the border waiting for the blockade to be lifted, poses threats to the people in the area.
Shiva Ghimire, president of the association, warned in a statement that the tankers with "highly-inflammable materials" are exposed to heat and could pose threat to local people.
Thousands of trucks loaded with petroleum products and LPG have been forced-stationed for weeks due to the blockade. The drivers refuse to move in to Nepalese territory, fearing backlash from the agitating Madhsei people.
