Bara, June 13

Life was affected in the central Tarai owing to the four-day bandh called by Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal beginning today to protest the second phase of local elections due on June 28.

In Bara, the bandh particularly affected the district headquarters and neighbouring places. While the main bazaar of the headquarters Kalaiya remained shut from early morning today, no vehicle plied on the postal road to the headquarters. Except for a few two-wheelers and cargo vehicles, hardly any means of transport plied on the East-West Highway either.

“While long-route vehicles that departed from the Capital reached their destination in the night itself, those which were stranded on the way left for their destinations after the bandh ended for the day today after 5:00pm,” said Bara Police chief SP Narendra Upreti, adding education institutions operated as usual in the district.

In Saptari, everything from schools to marketplaces, factories and transportation remained shut today due to the bandh. From early morning, bandh-enforcers burnt tyres at major chowks and chanted slogans against the government seeking amendment to the constitution prior to the polls. Emergency vehicles and those belonging to journalists, human rights activists and carrying milk, along with two-wheelers, however, plied as usual on the road.

Similarly, while the bandh seriously impacted life in Birgunj, Parsa; Gaur, Rautaha; and Malangawa in Sarlahi, the strike did not impact districts such as Siraha and Dhanusha that badly.

In Dhanusha’s Janakpur, in particular, though the bazaar area remained totally shut today, light vehicles could be seen plying the road. The bandh also did not have such a severe effect in Biratnagar, Morang where agitators staged demonstrations at different places almost the entire day.

Elsewhere, the bandh called by Limbuwan in alliance with the RJP-N to protest the upcoming elections had a normal impact on life in Jhapa.

Though long-route vehicles didn’t ply the road and some education institutions remained shut, short-route vehicles operated as usual. Market places and factories remained open.