KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 16

The Department of Transport Management has decided to lift the requirement for route permits for public transport vehicles in view of the approaching Dashain festival.

Starting from September 22, vehicles will not be required to obtain route permits for a period of two weeks. A meeting of the concerned agencies, held at the Department on Tuesday, decided to waive the permit requirement from Ghatasthapana (September 22) to October 8 to facilitate easier public transportation during the festival.

Advance ticket bookings will continue for both long- and short-distance routes. Transport entrepreneurs have been instructed to ensure online ticket booking and to cooperate with relevant authorities in managing the movement of vehicles entering and leaving the Kathmandu Valley.

The meeting also directed ticket counters to issue passenger tickets only upon the presentation of valid identity cards. Passengers, in turn, have been asked to compulsorily carry their tickets while travelling.

Chairman of the Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs' National Federation, Bijay Bahadur Swar, stated that ticket counters will be staffed with personnel wearing uniforms and carrying identity cards. Unauthorized ticket counters will not be allowed to operate, he added.

In line with the decision, heavy equipment and trailers-except those transporting food and other essential goods-will be prohibited from operating on the Narayanghat–Kathmandu road section from Ghatasthapana until Poornima, the concluding day of the Dashain festival.

Furthermore, 15 citizen help desks will be set up at various locations across the Kathmandu Valley in collaboration with Sipradi-NADA.

(With inputs from Rastriya Samchar Samiti)