The article on “Scrub typhus” (THT, September 20, Page 10) sounds more like biblical plague.

Most people in the Kathmandu Valley have not heard of this disease that sounds more like biblical plague. It is time that we put in place domestic quarantine as in democratic Australia to stop infected bodies from travelling from one place to another.

During my flight from Sydney, a domestic passenger was threatened with detention at Mebourne airport if he did not dispose of his hamburger in the bin or in his stomach.

It is time that we emulate developed Australia so as not to spread epidemic in the country.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

Request

This is with reference to the news story “30 new disabled-friendly Sajha buses arrive” (THT, September 20, Page 4).

It is good news that the Sajha Yatayat is adding more fleet of buses to cater its services in the Kathmandu Valley where commuters have to negotiate with jam-packed public buses during the office hours.

The privately-run public buses and micro-buses are far below the standard to be called as city buses. The new Sajha buses will not only have enough space to travel standing, facility for mobile phone charge, space for disabled people who can travel along their wheel chairs but also CCTV camera and TV set.

It is expected that these buses will provide services to major truck routes facilitating the commuters. But the condition of the roads even within the Kathmandu Valley is so pathetic that their services will be just like private buses.

I also would like to request the Sajha Yatayat to resume its services in the long routes. During the its heyday Sajha Yatayat would operate buses as far away as Nepalgunj in the west to Janakpur in the east and its services were among the best.

People used to stand in queues from early morning to get their ticket booked during the festival seasons and they provided the most reliable bus services; they did not carry more passengers beyond the capacity and they used to reach the destination on time.

If the Sajha Yatayat resumes its services even for the long routes the syndicate system of the private bus operators will come to an end and passengers will feel a sigh of relief. The syndicate system will automatically end.

The private bus operators will also be compelled to become passenger friendly if the Sajha Yatayat operates its bus services on the major truck routes across the country.

Learning lessons from the Sajha Yatayat, other municipalities can also start the passenger-friendly services around their localities. In most of the developed countries the city buses are quite common and most of the people do not think of buying their own cars if they get regular and standard bus services around the clock.

If all the cities start regular bus services the problem of traffic jam and pollution will also be reduced remarkably.

Anup Sharma, Kathmandu