Rupandehi, April 7:

Stranded due to the nationwide general strike, hundreds of passengers, who arrived here from Gulmi, Arghakhanchi and Syangjya, are looking for ancient trails to reach home soon.

Passengers said they were trying to locate old trails as they could reach home earlier by using these trails instead of walking along the motorable roads.

Said homeward-bound Kamal Rana of Argali, Palpa: “I am trying to locate the ancient trail trod by my grandparents”.

Tej Bahadur Sunar of Ghurkot (Gulmi) said he also had been searching for an ancient trail that would be a short-cut to home.

Before the construction of the Siddhartha Highway, Mahendra Highway, Tansen-Tamghas road and Gorusinghe-Sandhikharka road, people used to tread these trails.

Around 250 passengers are stranded at Belahiya on the Indo-Nepal border since yesterday, a report said. Passengers are facing difficulty getting food, said Kamal Rana, a passenger.

They are also running out of money since whatever they had has gone towards footing the lodging and food bills. Inspector at the Area Police Office at Belahiya, Lok Darshan Thapa, also said a large number of passengers are stranded in the area.

Meanwhile, all educational institutions, industries, markets remained closed on the second day of the general strike in Rupandehi. Though government offices opened, there was no movement of people. Workers affiliated to the seven political parties staged rallies against the government in urban and rural areas of the district.