Weak administration :Travellers, shippers at mercy of transport syndicates
BHAIRAHAWA, JAN 08 -
Transportation services in western and eastern Nepal are in the firm grip of syndicates, and travellers and shippers are at their mercy as they have no freedom of choice.
Five years ago, the Supreme Court had scrapped the syndicate system under which buses and trucks operated on a rotation basis, and customers had to take whoever was first in the queue regardless of preference or quality of service.
However, after the government began cracking down on overloaded trucks and tankers, transport entrepreneurs in Bhairahawa retaliated by hiking the freight rates and resuming the syndicate system. Vehicles bearing licence plates with odd numbers would operate on odd dates, and those with even numbers would operate on even dates.
Transporters have also been accused of increasing the freight to take advantage of the government’s move requiring more vehicles to ferry goods from one place to another. The cargo charges were hiked on Saturday based on the decision of the Western Truck Transport Entrepreneurs Committee, Butwal and the Association of Lumbini Truck Transport Entrepreneurs.
Transporters have increased the rates for carrying 10 tonnes of goods from Bhairahawa to Kathmandu by Rs 2,000 to Rs 22,000. Similarly, the rate for the Bhairahawa-Pokhara route has been increased from Rs 17,000 to Rs 19,000. Meanwhile, transportation of cement from Bhairahawa has stopped due to the higher charges. Entrepreneurs and traders said that the hike would increase the prices of other goods.
Since the freight rates on the Birgunj-Kathmandu route, which is almost of the same length as the Bhairahawa-Kathmandu route, has not been changed, Rishikesh Agrawal, president of the Rupandehi Cement Producers Association, said that the increased charges could hurt cement factories in Rupandehi. Around 250-500 trucks carry cargo out of Bhairahawa daily.
Meanwhile in Pokhara, the syndicate system exists in passenger services. The Prithvi Highway Bus Operators’ Committee controls long routes, while the Taxi Entrepreneurs’ Association and Pokhara City Bus Entrepreneurs Committee rule the short routes.
New entrants associated with Bindabasini Transport have been forced to keep their vehicles costing millions in the garage due to obstructions by these organizations. The government has not issued route permits to the new company bowing to strong pressure from them. The operators of Bindabasini Transport have not been given permits even though they have brought modern Euro III standard vehicles.
However; NK Shahi, president of the Prithvi Highway Bus Operators’ Committee rejected charges that they had indulged in such practices. “In fact, there is still a shortage of buses on long routes, and new buses can be operated on them,” he said.
Syndicate members have also been demanding that the route permits issued to tourist jeeps be withdrawn so that they would not face any competition from new entrepreneurs.
As a result, people have been forced to endure the bad service provided by the existing transporters and even put their lives at risk. “It is really hard to travel on old buses that have remained in operation for many years,” said Raju Acharya of Pokhara, who travels frequently on the Kathmandu-Pokhara route.
Similarly, Mustang district has been suffering from the problem of transportation syndicates. The number of tourists visiting Mustang and pilgrims visiting Muktinath has increased significantly in recent years. However, the travellers have to suffer great hardships as they are required to change buses at different locations due to the syndicate system imposed by transporters from different places.
A direct highway connects Beni, Myagdi and Jomsom, Mustang but travellers cannot get a direct bus service from Beni. Travellers headed for Muktinath are required to change vehicles at Ghansa on the Myagdi-Mustang border and at Jomsom as local transporters operate their own service from Jomsom onwards.
Transport entrepreneurs of Mustang said that they did not operate direct services to Beni as road conditions on the Ghansa-Beni section were poor. Transporters of Mustang who do not want other vehicles to ply their roads have also barred movement of tourist vehicles.
Cases of tourists being forced by syndicate members to get on their jeeps are not new. Last week, two vehicles (Ga1Ya 679 and Ga1Ya 380) carrying tourists from the UK, the USA, Germany and New Zealand were stopped by local youths associated with the Mustang Jeep and Bus Entrepreneurs Association.
The foreign travellers were returning from Upper Mustang and Thorang Pass. The young people took them under control and forced them to travel in their own vehicle. “Despite requests by the tourists, they stopped the vehicles in a harsh manner,” said Rajendra Gurung, a trekking guide. He added that they had no option but to get into their old jeep. Meanwhile, the syndicate has also made life hard for travellers in Gulmi as they have not allowed new bus operators to enter the area.
In Dhaulagiri, transportation services are still being operated on a rotation system leaving travellers no freedom of choice.
The Dhaulagiri Zone Transport Entrepreneurs Committee, jeep entrepreneurs and the Prithvi Highway Bus Operators Committee operate transportation services on a rotation basis. Most of the public vehicles plying the Pokhara-Baglung highway also operate on Prithvi Highway.
Meanwhile, the buses departing for Kathmandu are controlled by entrepreneurs from Dhaulagiri. Transport entrepreneurs said that they had to pay a huge sum of money to get a route permit to operate services on the Baglung-Kathmandu and other sectors, and registration of new bus operators committees is not easy. Similarly, transportation services in the eastern part of the country are under the control of syndicates. Bhojpur, a hilly district in eastern Nepal, suffers from the same problem. Transporters have imposed this illegal practice on routes from Dharan to Bhojpur, Sankhuwasabha and Diktel, Khotang. As there is no competition, travellers are being charged arbitrary fares on the Dharan-Bhojpur, Dharan-Sankhuwasabha, and Bhojpur-Diktel routes.
With inputs from reporters in Kaski, Myagdi, Gulmi and Baglung.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
