Banda in Tarai enters 46th day, continues to cripple life
Gaushala (Mahottari), Sept 29: An indefinite banda (general strike) called by the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) in the Tarai continued to paralyse normal life in Mahottari as the agitations reached 46th day today.
Normal life has largely been hit as a result, while local people are finding it hard to sustain due to a lack of essentials and petroleum products and medicines particularly.
Among those affected by the protest, most are daily wagers, who are struggling to manage hand-to-mouth existence due to the stir.
The market, educational institutions and industries have been shut while transportation has been affected.
Health workers said that patients are on the receiving end of lack of medicines while some others, who can afford it, are forced to go to India for treatment.
Meanwhile, the passage of Nepal-bound cargo vehicles has been obstructed largely due to sit-in protests by the cadres of agitating UDMF in various 13 border points on the Nepal-India border in Mahottari for the past five days.
The cadres have staged sit-ins at Vittamod custom point, Matihani, Samsi, Siswakataiya, Raghunathpur, Itaharwakatti, Parsapataili, Bathanaha, Khairbanni, Sugabhawanipatti, Nainhi, Maruwahi and Manara, obstructing movements and passage of Nepal-bound cargo carriers on the border, resulting in acute shortage of petroleum products in Nepal in particular. RSS