By Our Reporter

It has been three days since the public vehicle operators launched an indefinite strike in the name of 'rescuing public transport' after the Gandaki Provincial government introduced a ride-sharing regulation on May 15 and Bagmati Province was ready to promulgate similar policy.

Stemming from Gandaki, the strike was imposed nationwide since Monday. The ruthless strike severely impacted the public movement across the country. The worst hit was the tourism sector, as hundreds of tourists who were in various destinations in Nepal got stranded.

Although the government tried to solve the problem through negotiation, transport entrepreneurs stuck on their demand that the new regulation enacted in Gandaki be annulled, which was legally impossible.

Yet the government tried to scrap the regulation and convinced Gandaki Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey to postpone the implementation of the regulation for a month. It was an example of how the federal government tends to interfere in the affairs of the provincial government.

After Gandaki agreed to postpone the implementation of the regulation, a meeting of the Public Transportation Protection Central Struggle Committee consisting of different transport organisations on Tuesday evening decided to call off their ongoing transport strike from Tuesday night. But the transport operators did not resume their service on Wednesday for no apparent reason. 

Public and tourism entrepreneurs have objected to the strike. 

The Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) said that the situation has had an adverse impact on the tourism sector of Nepal.

"Such incidents not only inconvenience foreign tourists travelling in Nepal but also domestic tourists, causing them to postpone or cancel their tours due to fear and disappointment. This could lead to a serious long-term decline in the international tourist influx into Nepal," NATTA said in a statement.

It expressed serious concerns about the obstructions to public transport seen in Pokhara, the tourism capital of Nepal, and other key tourist destinations.

Likewise, Suman Ghimire, Past President of the Regional Hotel Association Chitwan, said that both the tourists and hospitality businesses were impacted by the strikes.

According to the hotel entrepreneurs of Kathmandu, if the protests were sustained, international tourists would cancel their visits to Nepal.

The Nepal Business Summit, organised by the Nepal Chamber of Commerce with other institutions, scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in Kathmandu on Monday was postponed due to the strikes.

President of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Binayak Shah said that the tourists travelling without having prior reservations were greatly affected as there would be no one to take them to the hotels and other destinations.