Chandra Luitel

Lalitpur, June 15:

Every day, the Lagankhel bus park sees as many as 1,000 vehicles running on 12 different routes. Chaos reigns supreme here: Waiting rooms do not exist, ticket counters are a luxury and the vehicles jostle for space. The list of problems goes on. Come rain and the bus park turns into a virtual paddy field. The smoke, the noise and the fish-market-like environment have affected the locals and the passengers alike. Most passengers find it difficult to locate the vehicles heading for different places. Reason: There are no separate lanes for parking the vehicles that run on different routes.

As the footpaths are encroached by street vendors, the pedestrians have no option left except to walk on the road. Officials have a readymade answer to these problems. "We do not have sufficient budget and authority to deal with these problems," says ex-ward chairperson Keshav Khadka. According to him, the place is a bus stop and not a bus park, where drivers are allowed to drop and pick up passengers in an instant.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Yes, it seems. Says Komal Prasad Kafle, executive officer, Lalitpur sub-metropolis, , "The bus park will be shifted to Khumaltar, where there will be enough space (50 ropanis of land) and infrastructure for vehicles."