KATHMANDU: Commuters have been complaining about the non-availability

of microbuses particularly during early evenings on several city routes.

According to the Department of Transport Management (DoTM), 45 silver microbuses ply on the Budhanilkanta-Kalanki-Koteshwor route. Their number on the Budhanilkanta- Jamal-Ratnapark route is 59. For Kapan-Ratnapark there are 26 blue microbuses while 15 are for Koteshwor-Ratnapark. The Mulpani-Ratnapark route has 16 blue microbuses, Jorpati- Ratnapark 80 while Gurjudhara-Naikap-Shahidgate-Koteshwor has 42.

Commuters have complained that the traffic personnel deployed on these routes are not bothered about the queue of the passengers boarding these vehicles of public transport. “We wait for hours for the micros but can’t board one. Every passenger is in a rush and gets into a vehicle hurting and pushing another,” an irate commuter shared.

Sixty-two-year-old Parvati Tamang depends on these vehicles to travel daily. “Since there is no queue system, an old person like me can hardly ever compete with young ones in boarding a vehicle. We wait for hours and these youths get to go. They mostly use abusive languages. Particularly between 5:30 and 7:00 pm, the microbuses do not stop properly,” she lamented.

“Traffic police cannot concentrate on one route only. If one vehicle stops on a wrong way, 20 other vehicles get stuck. Route permits have been granted in such a mess that it’s hard to track a defaulting vehicle when there is an accident. What’s worse, taxis and micros display unauthorised registration numbers,” traffic sources have their own stories.

Tanka Pokharel, DoTM section officer, admitted that their database was not well managed.

On routes with crowds of passengers, a queue system should be followed, he agreed. It helps passengers board buses safely and will also save their time. “I’ll write to senior officials about it,” he assured.