Kathmandu. Public vehicles plying in Dhading, Nuwakot and Rasuwa have now started operating from inside the new bus park.

The buses which were parked near Machhapokhari and Balaju road before this have started operating from inside the New Bus Park from today.

A meeting of the stakeholders held at the KMC on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Acting Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Sunita Dangol had decided to operate all public vehicles within Kathmandu from inside the New Bus Park at Gongabu. The meeting decided to operate all public vehicles from inside the New Bus Park within three days.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) had brought into operation the new bus park in 2056 BS to manage and park the public vehicles entering the Kathmandu Valley. Although most of the vehicles going to the district were plying from inside the new bus park, the vehicles plying in Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Dhading districts were being operated by setting up counters and parking in the Machhapokhari area.

Although the National Bus Park of Nepal is located in 161 ropanis of land at Kathmandu Metropolitan City-26, Gongabu, the vehicles plying in Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Dhading have been plying from the Machhapokhari and Balaju roads near the New Bus Park. Earlier, buses and microbuses plying on the Prithvi Highway were operating from the road between Gongabu Chowk and New Bus Park.

However, the drivers of vehicles plying in Dhading, Rasuwa and Nuwakot have been refusing to ply from inside the new bus park. Spokesperson of Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Superintendent of Police Naresh Raj Subedi said that there is a problem in traffic management in the valley due to the haphazard parking of vehicles on the road.

Spokesperson Subedi said that traffic management has been difficult due to the movement of long-distance vehicles through the Ring Road. Spokesperson Subedi said that with the implementation of this decision of the metropolis, the traffic jam around the Ring Road will be reduced.

Pankaj Malla, human resource chief of Lhotse Multipurpose Pvt Ltd, which has operated the new bus park, said that a separate track has been arranged for the public vehicles operating in Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Dhading from the bus park. He also said that a separate ticket counter has also been arranged for the vehicles going on the same distance.

According to the Transport Office, there are around 20 lakh vehicles in operation in the Kathmandu Valley at present. The increase in the number of private and public vehicles across the country including the capital Kathmandu in recent times and lack of road expansion have added challenges in traffic management.