Birgunj/Rajbiraj, August 25 The indefinite Tarai bandh called by Unified Democratic Madhesi Front has affected the supply of daily essentials in the belt as a number of vehicles entering the country via Birgunj have been stranded at the Customs Office. According to Parsa Chief District Officer Keshavraj Ghimire, no vehicle had been sent out of the district recently. “Earlier, we would send 300 to 350 trucks every night during bandh, however, we have failed to do anything like that even under escort in the past two days. Nonetheless, our efforts to ferry daily commodities are still under way,” said Ghimire. He added that most importers had not reported to the customs for their consignments. “As they haven’t turned up, we can’t send the vehicles even if we want to,” he said. Gopal Khatri, Officer at Birgunj Customs office, said a total of 100 vehicles bringing in goods were registered at the Customs today. Besides, thousands of other cargo-laden vehicles have been stranded in the Indian territory of Raxaul and nearby areas. On normal days, around 1,000 trucks and petrol tankers enter Nepal through customs every day. Likewise, no consignment has been released from Birgunj-based dry port. According to Officer at the port Harihar Poudel, no importer has come to receive their order of late. Persistent bandh has created shortage of daily essentials in Saptari, leading to increased prices. While the price of vegetables has tripled over the days, petroleum products have been scarce giving way to black marketing. Daily wage labourers have been facing trouble making ends meet with no source of income due to the continuous strike. “The bandh has intercepted our only source of income. We are afraid we might die of hunger as we have no money,” said Chalatira Sada of Pharseth in Saptari.