Dhankuta, January 6

Agitators campaigning for making Dhankuta the capital for Province 1 today agreed to allow passage to vehicles during certain times of day in view of hardships faced by the public.

An all-party meeting held at the district headquarters this morning took a decision to this effect.

The strike had affected normal life in Dhankuta and some of its adjoining hill districts over the past four days.

As per the decision, vehicles will be allowed to operate from 5:00pm to 8:00am, everyday. The meeting has, however, decided to continue with their planned shutdown of marketplaces and educational and financial institutions until Monday.

“As there were complaints that the total halt of vehicular movement created shortage and inflation of daily essentials, we decided to ease traffic movement to some extent,” said Niran Rai, a provincial lawmaker who has been spearheading the campaign.

Now hundreds of vehicles stranded on the road have started heading to their destinations.

Normal life in adjoining Terhathum, Sankhuwasabha and Bhojpur districts has also been affected by the strike.