The ‘Sajha buspark’ located some 4 km south of Narayangardh bazaar in Ward No 9 of Bharatpur municipality will now be developed into a parking lot for long-route passenger buses.

The bus park was constructed in 1986 and named ‘Sajha” by the Cooperatives Development Board. It came into function from 1987 but had to be closed down in a very short time in the absence of necessary infrastructure.

Felt the necessity for a systemic bus park in Narayangardh bazaar, a centre point for hundreds of passenger buses plying on the east-west highway, Bharatpur municipality is building the bus park after taking it over from Cooperatives Development Board.

Construction of basic infrastructure like electricity supply, drinking water, toilets, gravelling of roads are going in full swing to complete the bus park as soon as possible.

Buses that used to be irregularly parked in various parts of the town have been removed by the security personnel following the declaration of state of emergency in the country. This is said to make the town less polluted.

Local people are also delighted over the resolution of the problem of Bus Park. The town council of the municipality has approved a budget of Rs 60 million in order to develop the place into a central bus terminal, said Devi Gyawali, deputy mayor of Bharatpur municipality.

Deputy mayor Gyawali also disclosed that negotiations are being held with the Royal Nepali Army for running of the bus park and would take over as soon as approval is received from the authority.

The local people formed the bus park restoration pressure group a year ago to pressurise the local administration for construction of a systemic bus park in the town. It was on the recommendation of this group that the local administration decided to renovate the bus park.

It is estimated that more than 1,500 automobiles pass via Narayagardh every day. The new bus park is expected to resolve the problem over crowded vehicles along the market area.