Biratnagar, August 30 :

Protesting the hike in the rent of business complex and vegetable market owned by the Biratnagar submetropolis, shopkeepers of the complex and market today closed Biratnagar bazaar.

Protesting the leasing out of the ‘C’ plot of the commercial complex and the vegetable market, they have been staging a relay hunger strike for one week. The Biratnagar submetropolis had leased the plot for five years to Tulsi Bishnu construction services in 2005. The agitation committee of the shopkeepers has been demanding that the lease contract be scrapped at the earliest. Executive officer of the submetropolis Sudarshan Dhakal said the provision in the contract states that the rent amount would be raised by 10 per cent every year. The contractor has told the submetropolis that the hike is in accordance with the provision, Dhakal said. The shopkeepers will stage a fast-unto-death from tomorrow if the lease contract is not scrapped, he added. Contractor Kharel, however, said the rent had been hiked as per the lease contract signed with the sub metropolis.