Ramechhap, September 21:

Transport entrepreneurs here have called an indefinite chakkajam on the Araniko Highway from today to protest the plying of microbuses on the Banepa-Nepalthok section along BP Highway.

Passengers from and to Ramechhap were stranded after vehicular movement came to a standstill on Araniko Highway. Passengers wending home for Dashain were also stranded. Chandra Singh Dhami, who was on his way home in Darchula, said he was stranded due to the sudden chakkajam. He said if he failed to reach Manthali by tomorrow, he would miss the Kathmandu-Darchula bus for which he had booked his ticket.

Students, too, were enraged due to the chakkajam called just before the Dashain festival. The Free Students’ Union of Mahendrodaya Multiple Campus in a statement today urged the concerned entrepreneurs to withdraw the chakkajam saying it was affecting those returning home for Dashain. The students warned of launching another strike if the chakkajam was not withdrawn immediately. The Nepal Teachers’ Union also issued a statement demanding withdrawal of the chakkajam.