Normal life was today paralysed in eastern Nepal's nine districts due to a general strike called by a minority ethnic community demanding a separate state.
The ethnic group named Limbuwan enforced the general strike demanding setting up of a Limbuwan state and more rights to the community in Nepal's new constitution.
Transport services came to a halt and most of the manufacturing outlets in the region remained shut during the strike, officials said.
Limbuwan is an area of the Himalayan region historically made up of 10 Limbu kingdoms, all now part of Nepal. It lies in the east of the Arun and Koshi rivers and west of Kanchenjunga and the Mechi river.
Similarly, workers who extract sand and stones from rivulets to earn a living also called a Koshi 'bandh' today in protest against Nepal government's decision on July 17 to ban quarrying and export of sand, pebbles and other construction materials from these areas.
These construction materials usually are exported to bordering states of India.
