Khotang, January 10

The transport strike called by locals has hit thousands of passengers for the past four days in Khotang.

The locals of some VDCs, including Buipa, Rajapani and Bijayakharka have enforced transport shutdown against the Local Level Restructuring Commission’s recommendation of a village assembly that had not been proposed.

The locals have been agitating with the demand that the name of the village assembly be corrected as that assembly had not been proposed in the list of village assemblies and municipal assemblies. The prolonged shutdown has adversely affected passengers heading for cities from the villages and vice-versa.

The agitating locals have enforced an indefinite shutdown at Nunthalakhanda along the Diktel-Jayaram road section expressing dissatisfaction with Local Body Restructuring Commission’s recommendation for Lamidanda village assembly by removing Mahuregadi Village assembly.

Bandh enforcers have obstructed the entry and exit of vehicles to Bijule and Hurlung along the Jayaram-Halesi road section.

After a truck en route to Jayaram from Diktel was vandalised last Monday, vehicular movement has halted completely. With the vehicular strike in place, patients referred to other hospitals have been forced to use aircraft or charter choppers.

Agitating student leader Om Prakash Ghimire, however, said that they had not obstructed the movement of vehicles ferrying patients.

Engineers from National Reconstruction Authority deployed for data collection for the reconstruction of quake-affected houses are stuck at Bijule. Struggle Committee Coordinator Uday Bahadur Karki said that the team of engineers was given entry in a vehicle at the request of the local administration.

The agitators said the Local Level Restructuring Commission had gone against the proposal of the Local Body Restructuring Technical Support Committee and an-all party meeting and recommended Lamidanda Village Assembly in place of Mahuregadhi Village Assembly.

Meanwhile, agitating locals today burned the effigies of Local Level Restructuring Commission Chair Balanand Paudel and its member Shyam Bhurtel  at Mahure. Struggle Committee Coordinator Karki said that they had burned the effigies as the commission had recommended the name of village assembly arbitrarily.

NC Khotang President Naresh Shrestha said all the parties would support the locals’ proposal to have Mahuregadi Village Assembly.