Ticket booking for Dashain festival begins

Published On: September 23, 2016 11:26 AM NPT By: KULCHAND PHOMBO | @@kulchandphombo

KATHMANDU, Sept 19: The ticket booking for the passengers traveling back to their homes for the upcoming Dashain festival has started from Friday.

"The ticket booking started at 6 am today. The tickets are being sold from Gongabu New Bus Park, Kalanki, Koteshwor, Sundhara and other usual ticket counters," Niranjan Rijal, Director of Department of Transport Management (DoTM) told Republica Online.

Rijal further said that the DoTM has put up help desks at 12 various places including Balkhu, Kalanki, Swayambhu, New Bus Park, Gaushala, Koteshwar, Lagankhel, Jagati of Bhaktapur for any information regarding ticket booking.

The DoTM said the ticket booking is available for various routes from September 23 till October 11. If the customers were denied tickets on the ground of artificial shortage or charged unreasonably, they can register complaints at the police department or the DoTM.

Similarly Saroj Sitaula, General Secretary of the Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs Associaton (NNTEA) said that they have opened ticket bookings for long routes including Kathmandu-Mahendranagar, Kathmandu-Kankadvitta while bookings for short routes including Kathmandu-Dhunche, Kathmandu-Pokhara will open shortly.

Lashing out at the government for its inaction, Sitaula said the government has not repaired Kalanki-Nagdhunga road section even though it was agreed upon in the meeting on September 18. Likewise, the agreement also includes halting road widening work along Mugling-Narayangadh road section until October 16.

Talking to Republica Online, Pragya Shree, a passenger, from Biratnagar said, "I pre-booked a ticket for Biratnagar for Dashain festival from Sundhara Counter. I got the ticket without any hassles."

With the Dashain festival just around the corner, super deluxe buses have increased 20 percent more than its regular fares. With this increament, the passengers now have to pay 40 percent more than the fare of ordinary vehicles if they are traveling by deluxe buses.

Meanwhile, the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Bureau has deployed around 150 plainclothes police officials at various ticket counters around the valley to control the possible frauds.

Among four million people living inside the valley, around 2.6 million people are traveling to their respective homes for the upcoming Dashain festival as per the previous year's status. Only on Phulpati and Astami alone, around 400,000 people exit the valley for the festival.