The bandh culture has taken a turn for the worse, with statistics
showing that in the past six months only 12 days were free of any kind
of bandh.
Bandhs were enforced on as many as
166 days in the last six months, disrupting vehicular traffic and shutting down government offices,
business establishments, hospitals and bazaars. All days in January,
February and April saw a bandh or a strike in some part of the country.
Except for March 18 and June 13, bandhs and strikes were recorded every
day in the two months. In May,
46 bandhs were recorded, while June has
seen 57 bandhs and strikes. The increasing culture of bandhs is severely affecting the poor’s
ability to feed themselves, forcing many to skip meals and scavenge for
food or borrow money and sell off assets to survive, the UN World Food
Programme said in a bulletin. The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of
Commerce and Industries also informed that the nation
loses revenue
worth $7 million to $14 million on every bandh day.Organisers Jan Feb March April May June Total
UCPN-Maoist 10 5 7 8 17 22 69
NC 2 0 5 3 3 2 15
CPN-UML 4 1 8 4 0 0 17
MJF / TMDP / NSP 1 7 0 0 0 2 10
Traders / transports 35 33 7 7 5 5 92
Locals 32 40 33 45 9 16 175
Tarai groups / others 38 17 33 35 12 10 145
Total 122 103 93 102 46 57 523
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