KATHMANDU: Mohan Rokka of Kalanki, Kathmandu, who was returning on a motorcycle from Tatopani in Sindhupalchowk, Nepal’s bordering district with China, was almost knocked down by a speeding tipper on a dusty road near a place called Jumbo.
Panicked at the speed of the tipper, hapless Rokka stopped the motorcycle on the side of the road and looked at the tipper. And to his utter surprise, the tipper had no number plate. Rokka then unnerved further.
Talking to Khabarhub, an enraged Rokka queried, “Tippers and loaders sans number plates are seen playing the roads. Isn’t this a mockery of the law?”
Terrified Rokka went on to add: “Had there been an accident or had the tipper knocked me down, who would be responsible?”
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Sindhupalchowk’s Rinji Sherpa, driving towards Kathmandu in his car with his family on the same route, has a similar complaint. He says, “I noticed that almost all tippers plying the road were without number plates. And, the driving was reckless. I am surprised who is going to take action against these tippers.”
The district is around 66 kilometers north-east from Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
Aang Ngima Lama, a local, is more worried than Rokka and Sherpa. He says, “Tippers, loaders and big vehicles sans number plates ply the roads blowing dust every day here. Moreover, the driving is so reckless. This has been terrorizing the locals besides creating problems in our day-to-day work.”
Lama says, “We remain mere spectators despite the fact we see tippers plying the road in front of us without number plates.”
Anyone, including locals, traveling on the Barhabise-Tatopani road section are terrified to see vehicles plying the road without number plates.
Over three dozen Chinese vehicles sans number plates ply daily
Locals say more than three dozen Chinese tippers and loaders sans number plates have been plying the road from Jumbo to Larcha near Barhabise every day for several years without number plates.
Meanwhile, Chief at the District Traffic Police Office, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Rajesh Kumar Dahal admits the fact about the tippers without number plates playing the road in the district.
He says, “Vehicles (trucks and tippers) belonging to Chinese companies have been operating here in the name of local Middle Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project.”
The Project is in Sindhupalchowk is undertaken by Guangxi Hydro-Electric Construction. The Chinese contractor is responsible to construct the main tunnel, powerhouse, dam and hydro-mechanical project.
Currently, most of the tippers and loaders (without number plates) belong to the Chinese company Guangxi Hydro Electronics.
Despite this, the authorities have not been able to take legal action against these vehicles.
Chief of the District Police Office, Sindhupalchowk, Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajan Adhikari said that they have instructed the traffic police to take action against the vehicles without number plates.
Baburam Khanal, Assistant Chief District Officer of the District Administration Office, Sindhupalchowk district, said that several vehicles have been reportedly plying the road from Barhabise to Tatopani area without number plates for the last several months.
“We have directed the police to investigate and take action against them,” he told Khabarhub.
Khanal said, “Upon hearing that vehicles without number plates were used for the construction of the Middle Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project, we immediately directed the District Police Office to take necessary action on those vehicles a few months ago.”
Khanal said that no complaints were lodged after the instruction to the police adding, “There have been no reports or complaints about such vehicles after that. Now since we have gathered the information, we will instruct the police to investigate and take action against the vehicles.”
Chief of the District Police Office, Sindhupalchowk, Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajan Adhikari said that they have instructed the traffic police to take action against the vehicles without number plates.
He added, “We had received a complaint of tippers plying the road with proper number plates, and some playing with the number plates removed. We immediately instructed the traffic police to take action. We need to understand the current situation.”
He said that stern action will be taken against them immediately. Chief of the Area Police Office Barhabise, Inspector Devendra Bahadur Shah also admits that the Chinese contractor company has been operating tippers and loaders without number plates in the name of the hydropower project.
Talking to Khabarhub, he said, “They operate such vehicles for a limited area with an initial approval. They are not allowed to go beyond the designated area.”
According to Article 164 of the Vehicle and Transport Management Act 2049, a traffic inspector or traffic police will immediately impose a fine of Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,500 to vehicles being driven without a number plate.
He, however, expressed ignorance about whether the hydropower project has received such approval or not.
Gogan Bahadur Hamal, Director General of the Department of Transport Management — the authority responsible for monitoring and regulating vehicles — says operating vehicles sans number plates under any pretext of development or construction work cannot be acceptable.
Talking to Khabarhub, Hamal said, “Unregistered or unnumbered vehicles cannot be operated in any area, not even inside the compound. Even if one drives inside the compound of one’s hotel or house, the vehicles need to have a registered number plate.”
Efforts to contact Middle Bhote Koshi Hydropower Project officials did not materialize as no official wanted to come into contact.
According to Article 164 of the Vehicle and Transport Management Act 2049, a traffic inspector or traffic police will immediately impose a fine of Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,500 to vehicles being driven without a number plate.
Director-General Hamal says that such vehicles without number plates can even be confiscated.
Since rules and laws are equal for all, nobody – be it a company or an individual — has the right to flout the law. Locals said it is high time that these vehicles operated by the Chinese companies violating the law are brought in the ambit of the law.
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