Itahari, March 26 :

Vehicular movement on the Dharan-Dhankuta road section resumed today, even as a dispute between owners of microbuses and big passenger buses persisted.

The owners of microbuses and big passenger buses are embroiled in a dispute over the issue of route permit.

The microbus owners disrupted the Dharan-Dhankuta road section for five hours yesterday. Despite four hours of mediation, the Sunsari district administration office could not settle the dispute yesterday. It called both the parties to its office for fresh talks today.

Today’s discussions lasted for five hours but failed to end the dispute over route permit, president of the Eastern Motor Syndicate, Hira Udas, said, adding, however, that the discussions led to the reopening of the road.

The next meeting between the two parties has been scheduled for April 6.

Microbus entrepreneurs say they can move around anywhere once they get route permits from the Transport Management Office. Owners of the passenger buses disagree.

Secretary of the Joint Microbus Entrepreneurs’ Association Santosh Khadka said they were running microbuses in accordance with the route permit. “Microbus owners will launch an agitation if they are denied the rights given by Koshi Transport Management Office.”

Udas said the transport management committee had, on December 15, 2004, made the decision to allow 10 microbuses each to ply between Dhankuta-Dharan and Itahari-Madhumalla-Urlabari routes. “Microbuses are operating up to Kankarbhitta.” CDO Sharada Bhakta Poudel also said today’s meeting was inconclusive.