POKHARA: Lack of commuter vehicles in the evening that ply to and from and within Pokhara Sub-Metropolis has been hitting hard tourists and local residents alike since long.

So much so, if one considers going elsewhere after roaming in the tourist town the whole day, he has to either hire a cabbie or cover the distance on foot or spend the night in a hotel and wait for the next morning.

The situation in the winter months is further distressing for the commuters as the streets in the city wear a deserted look after about 6.30 pm. Although a few private vehicles can be seen, it is almost impossible to get public one.

Raju Nepali of Syangja, who recently underwent a similar situation, said, "In the evening, one cannot even get public vehicle to go to Mahendrapul or Chipledhunga from Prithvi Chowk inside the city."

Dharma Raj Adhikari, chairman of Pokhara Bus Entrepreneurs Committee, said that such a trend of vehicles staying off the road in the city began during the insurgency due to insecurity. "But now, I don't think that the commuters are so much troubled as our vehicles run in the streets till 7 pm, though sporadically in the late hours."

According to him, they chose to park their vehicles after 7 pm as there is lack of security in the sensitive areas, including Kahun Khola.

The persisting situation has been, however, adversely affecting the tourism industry.

Shambhu Koirala, Chief District Officer, Kaski, admitted having been requested by the local residents to manage public vehicles in the city till late hours. "I will take initiatives if the management of public vehicles till late evening helps the tourism industry," he said.

Tilak Poudel, executive officer, Pokhara Sub-Metropolis, said that though there were lots of complaints regarding the transportation facilities, no special initiative was taken for solving the problem.

"We'd requested the bus entrepreneurs for the purpose earlier, which was turned down then," he added.

No public vehicles have been added in Pokhara from the last seven years. However, the population here has been almost doubled within the same period.

According to Adhikari they also demanded to open the registration of new vehicles in the city and permission to ply additional vehicles in different routes.

Due to the impracticability of the existing routes, the commuters traveling from Lamachour to Birouta have to change the vehicles three times.

"The problems prevalent in the public transportation will be easily solved if the authorities concerned give permission to add more vehicles," added Adhikari.