KATHMANDU: Nepal National Federation of Transport Entrepreneurs, Bagmati zonal committee, threatened on Saturday to bring transport in the country to a standstill if the government didn’t invite them for talks and fulfill their demands by tomorrow.

“We will call nationwide transport strike beginning Monday if the government pays no heed to the plight of public transport entrepreneurs. We won’t allow even the tempos and taxis to ply on the roads,” said Niratna Newa, the committee coordinator. He also warned that they would disrupt the short and long-route buses departing from and arriving to the Valley.

Meanwhile, the strike called by the entrepreneurs hit the commuters hard today as well after the public vehicles stayed off the roads for the second day. Public vehicles didn’t ply on the roads in eight districts of Bagmati zone including Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur due to the strike.

Hundreds of passengers were left with no option but to either walk a long distance in scorching heat or hire taxis. The agitating entrepreneurs, however, didn’t disrupt the movement of the government and the private vehicles. Tempos continued their service to the passengers as usual.

The entrepreneurs called the public transport strike to protest the torching of a microbus, demanding professional security and compensation for the damage caused. The Nepal Students Union cadres had set the microbus on fire on Monday while enforcing Chakka Jam in front of Bishow Jyoti Cinema.