KATHMANDU, Oct 16: More than 150,000 passengers have left the Kathmandu Valley in three days to celebrate the Dashain festival.
Since Ghatasthapana, most schools, colleges, and organizations have been closed, prompting travelers to commence their journeys to their hometowns for Dashain celebrations.
Rajendra Prasad Bhatt, the spokesperson for the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office and Senior Superintendent of Police, informed Republica that 150,309 passengers departed from the Valley in the last three days. He noted that 47,643 passengers left by 6 AM on October 14 and 51,279 by the same time on October 15. An additional 51,387 passengers left by 6 AM today.
Bus passengers reel under lack of tickets for Dashain
To enhance the convenience of passengers leaving the Valley, the traffic police have operated passenger assistance centers at 15 locations within the Kathmandu Valley. Spokesperson Bhatt also stated that the traffic police have mobilized 1,800 personnel within the Kathmandu Valley to facilitate transportation during the festival.
The new bus park at Gongabu in Kathmandu is also crowded with passengers going home. Pankaj Malla, the spokesperson for Lotse Multipurpose Pvt Ltd, which operates the new bus park, said that more than 25,000 passengers have been departing from the new bus park every day.
A total of 60,000 passengers already secured advance bus ticket bookings for Dashain, as confirmed by Sunil Kunwar, the general manager of Lotse Multipurpose Pvt Ltd, the company overseeing bus operations at the new bus park.
The government also opened route permits for public vehicles across the country on October 13 to facilitate Dashain traffic management.
