Every morning as soon as he gets up, Balaram Baral heads towards Swayambhu. This is not a ‘morning walk’ for him. Neither was he interested to enjoy a morning view of Kathmandu from the Swayambhu hill.
At some distance from the famous temple, his eyes stop in front of some buses parked beside the Ring Road. He keeps staring these buses for a while. Then, he touches them just how a farmer touches their cattle while milking. However, sadly, it has already been four months since these buses have not been able to ‘give milk’ to him.
Baral owns four buses that would ferry passengers between Kathmandu and eastern Nepal. For him, these vehicles are the only source of income. However, due to the lockdown, the buses have not been able to run for four months. This has worried Baral.
These buses are the result of his lifelong hard work. They are also the only means of livelihood for his family. That is why they are as dear to him as his children. Seeing the buses stopped like this, he feels as if his own children are imprisoned. The buses parked in mud and bushes are receiving Baral’s love every day. However, they have not been able to give anything in return.
The biggest trouble ever
Baral has been in the public transport sector since the early 1980s. For the first 18 years, he worked as a conductor on the Kakadbhitta-Kathmandu route. He was always known as ‘Darhi Balaram’ as he always had beards.
He dared to buy a bus in the late 1990s. He had borrowed Rs 900,000 to buy a bus worth Rs 1.3 million. He managed to repay the loan in two years even during the civil war.
Making a few bucks did not stop Baral from working even harder. He did not stop dreaming. In a while, he added other buses as well. If everything had been normal, he would have fulfilled his wife’s dream of making a house in Kathmandu. However, the occasional calamity haunted him.
“The coronavirus epidemic came when I was all ready to build a house,” he says.
Earlier in 2008, Koshi floods had badly affected his business. Likewise, the 2015 earthquake and the blockade had a similar impact. However, in the last 38 years of his experience, transport businesspersons and workers have never faced such a challenging situation like today. He feels this coronavirus crisis is the most terrible amongst all those troubles faced so far.
Ever-increasing stress
“We buy a bus with bank loans for up to 70 per cent of our investment,” says Baral, “How do we pay the loan interest if we do not drive for such a long time? If this crisis continues, we will be on the road soon.”
Meanwhile, one has to spend around Rs 200,000 to get a bus out on the road after the lockdown. The wheels bogged down in the mud need to be replaced. The batteries are not working. The bus is starting to rust. The roof is covered with dirt and algae. There have been various breakdowns while keeping them aside for this long. Engine oil has to be replaced to make the engine efficient.
Hence, Baral questions, “How can you manage the millions of rupees for extra expenses when you haven’t earned a single rupee?”
Baral says he is worried that whether the buses will get passengers even after the service resumes after the lockdown. The pressure of bank interest and instalment management is unbearable.
Baral has four workers including two drivers and two conductors for each of his bus. After the bus service is suspended, the workers are suffering as well. He is saddened by the condition of his workers. Even if they cannot drive the bus, the workers keep coming around the place where the buses are parked. They are also curious, “When can we get to drive the bus?”
Baral has no answers to their questions. However, for sympathy, he consoles, “Don’t worry, brothers. It will be operated soon.”
Why discrimination?
The government has restricted public transport vehicles from operation until July 22 (for now) while private vehicles are not restricted. When the government neglects public transport in this way, not only Baral, but thousands of transport workers have lost their livelihood.
“People are travelling on vehicles with red plates crowdedly. Will the red plates stop the outbreak?” Baral has a tough question, “If the public transport system does not resume by setting a standard now, there will be a day when all of us will put the keys of our steering wheels in a bag and hand over the bag to the loan-issuing bank.”
Baral says that since the government is the guardian of all, not only the public transport businesspersons but also the passengers who are dependent on public transport should be looked after.
According to him, the banks should also reschedule loan repayment schedules immediately. He says that it would be very tough for transport entrepreneurs like him to repay the loans as they are earning nothing right now, adding that the loan given for 60 months should now be extended to 70 months.
“Even if the buses run from tomorrow, there may not be enough passengers as there is a need to maintain distance,” he says, “In this case, addressing all these problems, the government should bring a package for the transport sector.”
He also advises other transport entrepreneurs to be patient. Baral is hopeful about the future as he has patiently moved forward in many crises even earlier.
Living with fear
Now, not only Baral but thousands of transport businesspersons like him have the same story. Saroj Sitaula, the general secretary of the Federation of Nepali National Transport Entrepreneurs, says that many entrepreneurs are suffering from ‘depression’ due to the non-operation of public transport vehicles.
Stating that the vehicles on which millions of rupees had been invested have to be parked under the open sky for months, he complains, “I have to switch off my mobile phone as the lenders have started calling me.”
He has accused the government of not being thoughtful enough about resuming the public transport services that have been halted since March 25. Sitaula also confirms the entrepreneurs are ready to accept the standards set by the government to minimise the risk of infection.
“Entrepreneurs cannot afford to suffer from hunger and stress for a long time,” he says, “The question of whether to resume public transport is also an issue for the general public who cannot afford private transport. There should be justice for them too.”
Sitaula says either the government should immediately create a conducive environment for the resumption of public transport or a special relief package should be brought to address the problems of transport entrepreneurs.
Stating that the transport businesspersons have been patient for a long time, he asks, “How can coronavirus not be spread by private vehicles while people hire them and how can the virus spread on public transport vehicles even while we operate the service maintaining protection measures?”
