Nepal

The Bharatpur Metropolitan City on Thursday launched a set of new measures to manage traffic on the city's roads, including a prohibition on using horns.

The metropolis move comes a week after a stakeholders' meeting, which decided to take necessary measures from December 22 for better traffic management.  

In the face of rapid urbanisation in the district, managing growing traffic volumes is one of the major challenges facing the metropolis. The BMC has mandated that all vehicles park only at the central bus terminal Narayangarh Bus Park, beginning Thursday. 

According to the decision, the passenger-ferrying rented buses, including mini- and micro-buses from the east to Kathmandu and Pokhara, shall pick up and drop off passengers at the central bus park. Buses travelling from the east to Kathmandu and Pokhara must also use the Anptari By-Pass route to exit the city.

Likewise, as per the new arrangement, the buses travelling from the east to the west (Butwal, Dhangadhi, Mahendranagar) shall pick up and drop off passengers at the central bus park and pass through Chaubiskothi-Lions Chowk-Pulchowk route.

Similarly, vehicles operating along the Bharatpur Ring Road will use Narayangarh Bus Park for parking. The arrangement has been made so that the passenger buses from Bharatpur to Tandi, Parsa, Bhandara and Lothar shall use the central Bus Park for parking.

The long-route vehicles, including trucks, are prohibited from using the Pulchowk-Pokhara Bus Park road.

Likewise, vehicles, including passenger buses, trucks, lorries and tippers to and from Kathmandu and Pokhara are prohibited from moving towards the Narayangadh Bazaar from Anptari road.

Meanwhile, horns have been prohibited along the Gondrang-Pulchowk-Anptari road and in the Bazaar area. The metropolis has also imposed restricted parking on the sides of highway and roads in Narayangadh and Bharatpur.