About 35 percent of drivers plying their trade along the Birgunj-Pathalaiya section on the Tribhuvan Highway were found to have been suffering from various eye ailments, according to results of a surprise eye check-up carried out on Saturday.

Traffic police officers and ophthalmologists involved in the check-up claimed some of the eye problems found in the drivers could be threatening for the safe driving.

Thirty of the total 85 drivers were found with various eye-related complications in the check-up campaign jointly organised by Lions Club of Birgunj Adashanagar and the District Traffic Police Office at Kedia Eye Hospital. Eight of them have been suffering from farsightedness, 12 from  nearsightedness, four from cataract. Others are found to have been suffering from eye allergies, conjunctivitis among other problems.

Traffic Police Inspector Rabindra Prasad Bhatta said the campaign was launched in a bid to mitigate road accidents caused by the eye-related problems. He added that such campaigns would be organised at least once a month.

Sixty-year-old Indian truck driver Om Prasad Yadav, who is shipping goods from New Delhi to Kathmandu, said it was his first eye check-up in years. Yadav was found to have been short-sighted.