Strikes  in Doti  and Dhankuta, enforced by with support of locals to press the demand of state capitalhood, were called off on Monday. 

A meeting of the committee spearheading the protest  in Dipayal, the district headquarters of Doti, decided to withdraw the strike in the evening.

All forms of strikes andbandas have been withdrawn for now, considering the inconveniences faced by the public for the past two weeks, said Rajendra Shahi, the committee member.

“We have decided to change our tact. From Tuesday onwards, we will be staging a sit-in outside the office of local administration,” he said.

Besides Doti, the other hill districts of Province 7 are also facing the brunt of the strike.

There is an acute shortage of essential medicines in various heath facilities in Doti and other districts of the province.

Ijang Kunwar, manager of Shaileshowri Hospital in Dipayal, said they only had medicines enough to last maximum of four days.

Supply of essentials to Doti and other neighbouring districts has been greatly affected because of the travel ban during the banda period.

Sharmila Thapa, a woman from Bajura district, said she had been forced to stay in Doti for three days because of the protest.

“I had come from Martadi to go to Nepalgunj for treatment. I got stuck here due to the strike,” she said.

Like Sharmila, hundreds of passengers were left in the lurch because of the protest in Doti.

An indefinite banda enforced in Dhankuta of Province 1 was also called off on Monday evening, according to the RSS, the state news agency.  The district was shut for the past six days to press the government to declare Dhankuta Bazaar as the capital of Province 1.  The shutdown had caused hardship to many people, particularly those travelling along the Dharan-Dhankuta road.

HQs row dogs municipal govts in Ilam

The villagers of Larumba in Mangsenbung Rural Municipality of Ilam have started a protest over the village council’s decision to designate Chature village as the administrative centre of the area.

The 32-member council had named Chature as the centre of Mangsenbung in a vote split of 18-14.

Larumba locals are not willing to accept the vote outcome. They have contended that by basing the headquarters in Chature, the council is putting the village’s water sources at risk. There are nine drinking water projects in Chature that caters to around 11,000 people. Larumba residents are concerned about the pollution of water sources if Chature is made the administrative centre of Mangsenbung. They made their concern clear at a press meet organised at the district headquarters recently. Tikaram Kerung, a villager from Larumba, said they have repeatedly urged the municipality to reconsider its decision, but to no avail.

According to Dikendra Idhingo, the chief of the rural municipality, said an all-party meeting will have to be convened to find an alternative. Row over municipal administrative centre has also been reported in Rong Rural Municipality and Phakphokthung Rural Municipality.

Voices of dissent are being raised after Paharigaun and Aamchok were picked the headquarters of Rong and Phakphokthung respectively. The people of Rong have demanded Kolbung as the municipal centre while Phakphokthung residents have shown their preference to Saptin over Aamchok.