Citizens fear for blockaded Kathmandu

By Navin Singh Khadka
BBC correspondent in Kathmandu

Priest Guru Prasad Poudel is already paying double for goods

Although it has been nearly nine years since the Maoist insurgency began in Nepal, it was only recently that the rebels began to make their presence felt in the areas around the capital, Kathmandu.

Its citizens feared the rebels were closing in and many are not surprised at the blockade they have imposed around the capital.

Not surprised, but definitely worried.

Their concerns stem from the hardship their countrymen have undergone in other parts of the country, where the rebels have previously imposed blockades.

What the people of Kathmandu got to read, see and hear in the news has now become their own reality.

Rebels' warning

There was a significant drop in the number of vehicles coming into and leaving Kathmandu on Wednesday.

The busiest entry and exit point, Nag Dhunga to the west of the capital, looked deserted with only a few vehicles passing by.

"We've never seen this place so quiet, not even in the night," says Anita, a local shopkeeper.

The rich stockpile all their daily requirements, so they don't have to worry Ganga Chhetri, greengrocer

"The rebels have warned drivers their hands would be chopped off if they operated their vehicles."

The rebels had issued a statement saying that anyone bringing out vehicles in these areas would be doing so at their own risk.

The blockade is one of their measures to force the government to agree to their aims.

Normally more than 1,000 vehicles move out of the Nag Dhunga checkpoint everyday.

Today the figure is not even 200.

It's almost the same the other way.

"Usually we register 500 incoming vehicles, but today there was not even 80," said one army officer.

"But since we are escorting all incoming and outgoing vehicles and there is heavy deployment of security personnel at many places, we believe people will have the confidence to travel from tomorrow."

Scarcity

Convoys of around 20 vehicles each, escorted by army vehicles, were seen plying the highway linking Kathmandu with most parts of the country.

Yam Bahadur Gurung, who drove in a tourist coach from Chitwan, 100km (62 miles) to the west, said he noticed nothing wrong on the highway because the army had provided security.

The only community that will reap a benefit from such blockades is the businessmen Reena Maharjan, travel agent

"So far, it is safe," he said.

If drivers and passengers are worried about reprisals, the worries of citizens in capital centre on the scarcity of everyday goods.

"Such blockades are bad if they make our life difficult," says 37-year old Kishor.

"The rebels say that the move is aimed at the people's welfare but how can that be when we don't get to buy our daily basic needs?"

Ganga Chhetri, a 52-year-old greengrocer, said such blockades made lives difficult for poor people.

"The rich stockpile all their daily requirements, so they don't have to worry. But we can't because we get to buy things only if we make some income on a daily basis," she says, explaining that her shop would soon have nothing to sell.

Lacking confidence

Consumers have already begun to feel the pinch.

Guru Prasad Poudel, a priest, said he was already paying double the normal price for daily goods.

"And even when you pay so much, you get stale vegetables."

Trader Krishna Khadka fears prices will rise and customers will go

In another market, Krishna Khadka, a young entrepreneur, says he is already finding it hard to get construction materials for his shop.

"I know this will send the prices up and we will lose buyers," he says.

"Why don't the rebels organise protests by ringing bells or switching lights off like in other parts of world?"

Some people believe traders will take advantage of the situation.

"The only community that will reap a benefit from such blockades is the businessmen," says 25-year old Reena Maharjan, an employee at a travel agency.

"All others will stand to lose."

Most people in Kathmandu do not expect the rebels to launch an attack against the authorities in the city.

But they do fear the blockade will cut the lifeline to their city.

The government has been assuring them it will provide security to all transport firms.

But it knows that most people still lack confidence.

"That is the fear terrorism brings," said information minister and government spokesman, Mohammad Mohsin.

"We believe we will be able to help people get rid of such feelings gradually."