By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Dec. 8: Transport entrepreneurs and commuters are displeased with the current odd-even rule on the movement of vehicles and want the government to end it.
Under the rule, only even numbered vehicles (the numbers being that of their licence plates) are allowed to ply the road on even dates and only odd numbered vehicles are allowed on odd days.
This rule has been in place since September 10 but now, transport entrepreneurs are threatening to disobey it.
The Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs Association (FNNTEA), along with several transportation-related trade unions, has written a formal letter to the COVID -19 Crisis Management Centre demanding for the discontinuation of the odd-even rule. The association has stated that if the rule is not lifted by Thursday, the transport entrepreneurs will not follow it and start driving their vehicles regardless of the dates.
FNNTEA has reasoned that, in halving the number of vehicles on the road, the rule has led to crowds on public transport and increased the risk of transmission of the coronavirus.
The passengers seem to agree with this assertion. Aadesh Basyal takes public buses to travel to and from his home in Magargaun and workplace in Samakhushi. He said that the odd-even rule made no sense. “People who use public transport are still using public transport. Offices are still open. Everyone is out and about. What is this doing to curb the infection?” he asked.
Similarly, Radha Gonga called the rule counter-intuitive and gave her own example to illustrate her point. “I have a scooter and used to take it to work every day. But now, I am forced to ride a microbus or a tempo every alternate day because of the [odd-even] rule which I otherwise would not have taken,” she explained, saying that people with private vehicles were also potentially getting exposed to the virus on crowded public vehicles because of the date-based restrictions.The commuters echo the businesses calls to lift the rule.