A large number of commuters have faced hassles as the majority of public vehicles have stayed off the road in Kathmandu Valley on Tuesday due to a strike called by transport workers.

Passengers are forced to travel in cramped, congested vehicles as only a few micro buses and taxis are plying the Valley roads

According to police, private vehicles are operating as usual.

Transport workers have halted transport services as a protest against the government for allegedly not implementing the agreements made in the past.

Issuing a joint press release on Monday evening, the Nepal Transport Independent Workers’ Organisation, Nepal Transport Workers’ Association and All Nepal Transport Workers’ Association have announced various protest programmes.

Through the statement, transport workers have also accused the traffic police of charging fines unlawfully, suspending drivers’ licences, and charging unnecessarily in the name of pollution tests of vehicles.

Transport operators on Monday staged a demonstration against the traffic police’s ‘stringent’ rules, and Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s announcement to not let long and medium route public vehicles park in open spaces other than inside the New Bus Park at Gongabu.

The demonstration took a violent turn when the agitating protesters set fire to two traffic vans, venting their ire against the police, who they say overcharged fines. They also protested an alleged assault by people associated with Lhotse Multipurpose Pvt Ltd, the contractor company hired to operate the New Bus Park. They also vandalised the supermarket’s building.