Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: Passengers have started thronging the New Bus Park at Gongabu in Kathmandu. KATHMANDU — Thousands of passengers have started thronging the New Bus Park in view of the approaching Bijaya Dashami and Tihar festivals.

Students of Tribhuvan University (TU) and its affiliated campuses have started going to their home districts after the protest by ‘Jenji’ on September 7 and 24.

Pankaj Malla, human resource chief of Lhotse Multipurpose Pvt Ltd, said that the number of passengers has increased at the new bus park. According to him, a meeting of the concerned bodies held at the Department of Transport Management on Tuesday decided not to open tickets in advance for the Dashain festival this year.

Earlier, 4,000 to 5,000 people used to leave the bus park on a daily basis but now the number has increased to 12,000-15,000, said Malla. According to him, more than 65,000 people have left the Kathmandu Valley and gone to their home districts after the resumption of public transport, which was disrupted due to the ‘Jenji’ protests.

Federation’s senior vice-president Saroj Sitaula viewed that the number of passengers heading to their home districts during the Dashain festival might go down this year as there has been a crowd of passengers at the new bus park.

The new bus park has been used to operate public transport in more than 65 districts across the country. The government has opened the route permit to be applicable throughout the country from October 22 (Ghatasthapana) to make public transport systematic during the Dashain festival.