Nepalgunj-Dolpa bus service starts

By Siraj Khan

Nepalgunj, May 16 : A bus service has been launched for the first time from Nepalgunj to Dunai, the headquarters of Dolpa, a remote Himalayan district of Karnali Province. Locals are happy to be linked with road network where there was a bus service with comfortable seats.

Earlier, buses used to reach only to Tallubagar. The service reached up to Dunai after the construction of the road up to Dunai completed and bus operation from Nepalganj to Dunai started from last Saturday. 

Laxman KC, Chairman of Namaste Deurali Transport Pvt. Ltd., Nepalgunj said that the bus service was operated in collaboration between Se-Foksundo Transport of Dolpa and Namaste Deurali Transport Pvt. Ltd. Nepalgunj.

He said that the bus service started from Nepalganj directly to Dunai for the convenience of the people of Dolpa who were forced to travel by air due to the lack of road network. "Two buses of each operator provide services to the people from Nepalgunj one by one for Dunai and two buses also leave for Nepalgunj from Dunai," he added.

It is believed that the bus service from Nepalgunj to Dolpa will end the compulsion of the locals of Dolpa to stay in Nepalgunj for months without getting an air ticket.

Jaivir Rokaya, a local resident of Dunai, expressed his happiness for the bus service. "I was stuck in Nepalgunj without getting an air ticket for several days. The situation of relying only on air transport will end now," he said.

According to him, road network expansion to Dolpa would end the monopoly of air companies as it was possible to travel by road in a cheap and convenient way. The service providers informed that one-way fare from Nepalganj to Dunai is fixed at Rs. 3,500 per person.