By Nayak Paudel
Kathmandu, Nov. 5: The public transport operators have said that the continuation of odd-even rule for vehicles plying in the Kathmandu Valley is adversely affecting their business and is no longer necessary.
Months of nationwide lockdown has made the public transport sector among the worst-hit. However, the government lifting the nationwide lockdown and allowing the public transport sector to operate on odd-even basis had come as a relief for them.
However, they argue that the government must not continue that rule as it has badly affected them.
"Lockdown was imposed soon after I bought a taxi. It cost almost all of my savings. With no source of income, the subsequent days became hard with no source of income, which is why my family-of-four has been struggling to get by ever since," said Tilakmani Upadhyay, a taxi driver in Kathmandu. He breathed a sigh of relief as the lockdown was lifted and public transport was resumed.
While the odd-even rule was necessary in the past, it is of no use now, according to transport operators.
"Outside the valley, there is no odd-even restriction and the increasing people’s movement during the festival has increased the risk of the virus transmission even further. If the government has no concern about the region outside the valley, why it should be the case inside the valley?" questioned Upadhyay.
Taxi drivers are also bound to carry different passengers at a time because they only get to operate on alternate days, rendering them unable to earn enough for livelihood.
Taxi drivers in the domestic terminal of Tribhuvan International Airport try finding at least two different passengers on similar route.
"What are we to do when we are only allowed to operate in alternate days?" said Upadhyay.
However, the searching for second passenger even after one passenger has already boarded the taxi has unnecessarily wasted the time for the first passenger.
Sarita, who only wished to be identified by her first name, was waiting for the taxi driver for almost half an hour in the parking lot of Tribhuvan Airport´s domestic terminal while the driver was searching for other passengers in the same route as that of Sarita.
Nevertheless, Sarita was not angry even though she was going to be late in reaching her destination.