Only, most people here earn no more than a dollar or two a day. If your job requires you to take a bus, you might have been spending 20 or 30 rupees (67 rupees=$1US) each way for your commute. Does not compute.

And that was before the recent fare hikes. I’m no economist, but I can see this is pretty much an untenable situation.

Strikes are a tremendous burden on the economy, but they are probably just an organic expression of the untenability. Make everything stop, and you can draw attention to a thing that needs to be fixed. It’s clearly not an ideal means of addressing a crisis. But it is just as clear that no ideal means exists.

So, the strikes are a pain in Nepal’s ass and all, but really, this is all about us. And what does this mean for us?

Rickshaws, baby. Human power. No petroleum. 

A Plague of Strikes Upon Us?

Kantipur Report

 

KATHMANDU, June 22 - At least four strikes -  Valley and Nepal bandas — in a month and many more in the making. As if the rest of the country felt left out in the Valley-only transport strike on Saturday called by student unions and transporters’ unions.Starting Sunday, the entire country could be hit by chakka jams and road obstructions if transport entrepreneurs have their way and the law continues to look the other way.   

The transporters and students will have additional company beginning Sunday – petroleum dealers and petro-product carriers, all of them contributing in their own ways to make life more difficult for the man in the street.

Besides, eight student unions affiliated to political parties and transport unions like the Federation of National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNTE), Nepal Petroleum Dealers’ Association (NPDA) and Federation of Nepal Petroleum Supply Entrepreneurs (NPSE) will also join the fray Sunday.

Of late, venting one’s ire on the street has spread like a plague throughout the country. The strike callers are of all varieties – from the aggrieved relatives of those killed in road accidents to transporters to students. It does not matter that a banda or chakka jam announced at the last minute leaves stranded people on their way to work, while setting out on some emergency task, taking someone to hospital, appearing for an exam, traveling the highway, or simply returning home.

The latest round of strikes started with the government announcing a hike in fuel prices and the resultant raise in public transport fares. The government proposed an across the board hike of 25 per cent for public vehicles (but with three-wheelers and micro buses to decide fares through competition) against a 35-45 per cent hike demanded by transport entrepreneurs. Transporters and people employed by them usually park their vehicles astride the roads to prevent all vehicular movement. “If the government fails to address the entrepreneurs’ demands immediately FNTE will halt vehicular movement for an  indefinite period across the country from Sunday,” FNTE warned Saturday.

Students who have been enjoying a 33 per cent fare concession are also up in arms. They now demand a 50 per cent concession. The government’s decision to raise the concession to 43 percent is not enough, the students say. [The 43 percent concession is  also applicable to the Jana Andolan-injured]. Transporters, of course, oppose this additional hike. On Friday, the students vandalized vehicles at some places and burnt tires in front of colleges in the capital. More such spectacles are expected on Sunday.

“We will continue our protests unless our demand for 50 per cent concession in fares is met,” said the eight students unions after a joint meeting, Saturday. Today was the fourth consecutive day of protests by them.

On Saturday, petroleum dealers padlocked Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) depots across the country. NPDA that had announced nation-wide agitations from Thursday, demanding the the government ease the supply of fuel at the earliest. As a part of the protest, NPDA has announced a halt to the purchase of fuel from NOC depots from Sunday and to the sale and distribution of petroleum products from Monday. This will ensure lengthier queues in front of government-owned fuel supply stations.

Similarly, the Federation of Nepal Petroleum Supply Entrepreneurs (NPSE) on Saturday decided to halt petroleum supply across the country from Sunday. Issuing a statement  NPSE said all tankers supplying petroleum products will stop operating until and unless the government increases fares for tankers. 

With all sides determined to have their own way, get ready to walk to your destination. The sick and elderly travel at their own risk.

We received a call from Ramesh last night saying that today was most likely a NO GO. Students as well as all transportation people are demonstrating throughout the city demanding that the government do something about the huge price hike in petrol and transport fares. The lines for gas here are incredible. People wait in line for hours. One of our cab drivers routinely sleeps in his car all night while waiting in line. We have heard of people waiting for 4 hours only to have the pump run out. No refunds given.

The car and motorbike lines for gas are so long that they block traffic. Scott and I can’t pass this scene without imagining what would happen if this situation hit America. I know we did it in the 70′s, but…. I shudder at the thought of it happening right now… Americans and waiting? I don’t believe this is our strong point, and we aren’t getting any better at it as our world gets faster and faster and faster. 

It might be our American-ness that made me and Scott believe we could still continue with our BIG DAY despite the roadblocks. We got up at 5:30am, called our taxi driver who was like “yeah, right,” called Nutan, our translator, who told us her street was already under siege (burning tires, people breaking windows on cars that try to pass), then we still tried to hire a private car to take us…. But he wanted so much money, it just wasn’t worth the risk, especially without Nutan. We kind of pretty much need a translator for our interviews.

So, we returned to the hotel wishing we had just stayed in bed. Scott took off on foot with camera to shoot some B-roll around town. I am a little under the weather, so I stayed behind. Maybe this day of rest is good.

We have plenty of logging to do. I just don’t know how we are going to reschedule and fit all that we need to into the next week. But, I haven’t really known how a lot of stuff was going to happen on this adventure, and it has just came together, so I am going with that. (Or, at least I am telling myself I am going with it.)

I am so thankful to be doing what we are doing and to have this time to do it in. We are so blessed.