Bharatpur Metropolitan City Implements Strict New Traffic Management Rules

Various decisions have been made to effectively manage traffic in the main market area falling under Bharatpur Metropolitan City. The Traffic Management Committee meeting held on Saturday under the chairmanship of Chief District Officer Ganesh Aryal announced decisions regarding the operation of long and short-distance vehicles, route management for cargo vehicles, noise pollution control, parking, ticket counter management, and road infrastructure improvement, which will be implemented starting today.

According to the decision, passenger buses, minibusses, microbuses, and similar vehicles traveling from eastern districts to Kathmandu or Pokhara must compulsorily 'pick and drop' at the Central Bus Park and exit via the bypass road through the Central Bus Park Chowk to Aaptari Chowk. Vehicles traveling from eastern districts towards the west must 'pick and drop' at the Central Bus Park and exit via Chobisakoti, Lions Chowk, and Pulchowk.

Passenger vehicles traveling from the western region towards the east or Kathmandu must 'pick and drop' at the Central Bus Park and proceed to their destination via the Central Bus Park Chowk. Buses and minibusses traveling from Baglung, Pokhara, and Kathmandu towards the east or west must 'pick and drop' at Aaptari via the bypass road at the Central Bus Park and proceed to their destination.

Long-distance vehicles traveling from the district towards the east or west must compulsorily pick up passengers only from the Central Bus Park. Buses and minibusses traveling from Chitwan to Baglung, Parbat, Pokhara, Syangja, Gorkha, and Lamjung must queue up from the Narayanghat (Pokhara) Bus Park and exit via Aaptari. It has been decided that vehicles will not be allowed to stop within the metropolitan area for the purpose of arbitrarily picking up or dropping off passengers. Buses and minibusses operating after queuing from the Central Bus Park (Paras Bus Park) and Narayanghat (Pokhara) Bus Park must park at the respective bus parks at night.

The queue and parking for magic vans operating on the ring road within the Bharatpur Metropolitan area will be managed by the respective committees at designated locations, and this information must be provided to the Metropolitan City and the District Traffic Police Office. The queue and parking for buses and magic vans traveling to Tandi, Parsa, Bhandara, Lothar from Bharatpur, and those coming from there, will be at the Central Bus Park, with Lions Chowk designated as the final stop.

The location for queuing buses and minibusses traveling from Narayanghat to Kawasoti, Danda, Hetauda, and Birgunj will be the Central Bus Park. Minibusses and magic vans departing from the respective bus parks will not be allowed to 'pick and drop' or park anywhere other than the designated locations. The 'pick and drop' locations for local vehicles will be determined after joint monitoring by the Metropolitan City, the Road Division Office, the Traffic Police, and the Transport Committee.

Buses and magic vans traveling from Bharatpur towards West Chitwan must be routed via Chobisakoti and then Lions Chowk. Vehicles departing from the respective locations must mandatorily reach the designated final stop.

Local minibusses, magic vans, and autos operating within the district must operate based on their route numbers from their respective queuing parks. Route number stickers must be managed by the concerned transport private limited companies. Autos operating within the Bharatpur Metropolitan area must compulsorily be registered with a private limited company and operate only after affixing that company's logo. Autos without a logo will be prohibited from operation. Auto renewals will only be done upon the recommendation of the concerned private limited company. The division of routes, sectors, and color coding for autos will be done in collaboration with the Metropolitan City, the Transport Management Office, the Traffic Police, and the concerned private limited company. Operation outside the designated route will be prohibited by arranging route marking and stickers. Three-wheeled small vehicles are completely banned from using the highway in the market area.

Entry of large cargo vehicles and long-distance vehicles is prohibited on the road from Pulchowk to Pokhara Bus Park in Narayanghat between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM. Such vehicles coming from Kathmandu and Pokhara are also prohibited from entering the market during the same period, and they must use the bypass road. Cargo vehicles will not be allowed to load or unload in the market area between 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM.

The use of horns indiscriminately has been prohibited along the stretch from Gondrang to Aaptari via Pulchowk. Parking of private and hired vehicles on the right and left sides of the East-West Highway, Pulchowk-Aaptari road, and the bypass road is prohibited. Ticket counters, bus park usage fee collection counters belonging to various transport private limited companies located at places like Pulchowk, Sahid Chowk, Lions Chowk, Chobisakoti Chowk, and Central Bus Park Chowk must be removed within seven days and relocated to the respective bus parks.

It has been decided that the Road Division Office will close the risky median crossings on the bypass road section from Central Bus Park Chowk to Aaptari. The service lane from Gondrang to Pulchowk under the East-West Highway will be made one-way for traffic management. Bharatpur Metropolitan City will ensure the budget for the necessary materials for the implementation of the decision, and the Road Division Office will manage the roads within its jurisdiction.

The meeting was attended by Bharatpur Metropolitan City Acting Mayor Chitra Sen Adhikari, Chief Administrative Officer Birendra Dev Bharti, heads of district security agencies, heads of concerned offices, metropolitan city employees, representatives of various transport private limited companies, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Transport Management Office, and other stakeholders.