I used that road several times to go to Khalanga, Salyan when I lived and worked in Tulsipur, Dang several years ago. The road which was not even black-topped until about two to three years ago, I think, is probably the most dangerous road in Nepal: a false turn in the dangerously and narrowly serpentine incline (or decline), and you fall straight into the river below. Great for adrenaline junkies, but sheer hell for the poor people of Dang and Salyan and of zillas above. oohi ashu

I wrote "nothing happens, really" because of these reasons. These have happend in the past; these will happen again. 1. The government may form a commission to look into the accident. 2. If so, without fail, the commission will blame the driver and the road conditions, as though that were news! 3. The bus-yatayat company will use its political and organisational muscle through these various Zonal Bus Entrepreneurs' Associations (which are basically cartels) to NOT pay out a single insurance rupee to the families of the deceased. [If you oppose these cartels, you might be killed. These are pretty-much Mafia-like organisations that funnel millions of money into all the major political parties!] 4.The families of the dead are likely to be too poor without a voice to press for their rights. 5. The media treats this sort of accident like a one-off event, and moves on to cover other accidents that will happen next week. 6. NGOs and advocates are NOT to be found pressing for highway safety in Nepal because donors don't give out money for that sort of 'relatively unglamorous' activism. 7. It's always the poor, the voiceless and the resourceless poor who do the dying in these accidents. It's very depressing, really. Depressing, because innocent people lose lives because of preventable causes, and we as a society can do NOTHING about that. oohi ashu

And of course, if a politician -- even a minor one -- had been killed in that accident, that, of course, would have been because of some conspiracy, some hidden plots and schemes . . ! But since people don't "matter" died, Kathmandu media and NGO-wallahs and others wil shrug off and move on. oohi ashu

The photo: Source: Kantipur

Something is happening. Hope the villagers' anger (see the last para below) is NOT short-lived. Quite frankly, these Rapti Bus Entrepreneurs and their Bus Entrepreneur brethren all across Nepal should be slammed and nailed -- legally, for hundreds of crashes and deaths that really amount to murder. Notice that there is NO talk about insurance and compensations, but about "halt[ing] all their services in the same route for a day to mourn the crash", as if they really cared! In Dang-Deukhuri (and in Far Western Nepal), it's the sons and daughters of most feudal landlords -- the ones who held kamaiya bonded labour for long -- who have, in the last 12 years or so, re-invented themselves as long-distance Bus Entrepreneurs. Nothing wrong with that re-invention of the image, except these guys are getting away with murder . . . with zero compensation paid out and with zero accountability on anyone's part. oohi ashu *********** Source: - http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=89855 35 survivors of Salyan crash undergoing treatment, condition of 3 critical Kantipur Report KATHMANDU, Oct 29 - 35 of those wounded in Saturday's Salyan bus accident are undergoing treatment at Nepalgunj Medical College and Kohalpur teaching hospital. According to sources, the condition of three among the injured remains critical because of which the death toll might further rise. Meanwhile, most of the injured admitted to the Kohalpur teaching hospital are expected to be discharged later today, hospital sources said. According to unconfirmed reports, a two and half year old girl, Maya who is also undergoing treatment at the hospital, has lost both her parents in the accident. Similarly, another child survivor of the accident is undergoing treatment at Dang hospital. According to hospital sources, the identity of the child who looks to be around three years old remains unknown. Eight have already been discharged following treatment at the Dang hospital. Meanwhile, nine more bodies of the crash victims at the Salyan Hospital have been identified. According to sources, bodies of the crash victims identified till now are: From Salyan: Rama KC Sita Dahal Ramesh KC Goma Dahal Ganga Pun Dhanmaya KC Maiya Oli and her daughter (name undisclosed) Drona Raj Khadka Rukum Bahadur Oli Harka Bahadur Sunuwar Mohan Daangi Deepak Pun Yamraj KC Khadka Bahadur Sunal Bhim Bahadur Oli Man Simha Oli Dang Kamal Oli Sita Khadka Bal Krishna Simha Lalita Adhikary Pratikshya Adhikary Narayan Oli Modi Oli Shyam Oli Suman Pariyar Following post-mortem, 21 bodies of the crash victims have been handed over to the respective families, District Police Office, Salyan said. According to our correspondent in Salyan, people have thronged Salyan Hospital to find out if their relatives were involved in the crash. Meanwhile, blaming the operation of "derelict buses" for the crash, angry locals have halted all traffic in the Dang, Salyan and Tulsipur route since yesterday evening. Similarly, the Rapti Bus Entrepreneurs have decided halt all their services in the same route for a day to mourn the crash.

If you are interested. Busing blues Wriggling out of the clutches of cartels (05 March 04 - 11 March 2004) | On 23 February, 2004, Nepal and India signed an agreement to promote direct bus services between the two countries. This meant that Nepali long-distance buses are now able to take passengers to India without much red tape, while Indian buses can bring in travellers to Nepal. The Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) and Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATA) welcomed the agreement, saying that it makes it easier to bring in more tourists, but the Federation of Nepali Transport Entrepreneurs (FNTE) protested against it on grounds of patriotism, among other reasons. It’s easy to understand why HAN and NATA would support the agreement, but what could explain the FNTE’s mindset? As a child in the late 70s and early 80s, I fondly remember listening to commercial jingles for various long-distance bus companies on the one and only entertainment station at the time — Radio Nepal. The major arterial highways had just opened, linking Kathmandu to parts of eastern and mid-western Nepal. The good roads made it easier for buses to run day and night. Seeing opportunities to make money, Nepali entrepreneurs, with permission from the Panchayat government, started transport companies. Soon these private sector companies were jostling with one another on the radio to claim how much ‘comfort’ their buses gave passengers. To attract customers, they added to the competition by offering ‘cabin coach’, ‘video movies’, ‘deluxe seats’ and other services. Indeed, the jingles (especially the one of Kankai Mai Yatayat for early-morning buses leaving for Kakadbhitta from Kathmandu) were catchy and fun, patterned as they were after memorable Nepali folk songs. Besides amusement, the jingles gave one a sense of the kind of fierce market-based competition that the bus companies were then engaged in. This sort of competition went on till the early 90s, after which owners of bus companies, with ties to unions affiliated with political parties, got together to form regional and national federations to protect their own interests. With entities such as FNTE eventually holding sway, this led to the inevitable for the bus companies: no need to compete with one another as aggressively as before. The catchy tunes on the radio stopped, there was widespread price-fixing, bad service and fewer choices for most passengers. Bus owners emerged as a minor political force that could call on and off chakka-jams in any road-linked part of the country. The result? A comfortable cartel that has been chugging along with the best of all worlds: political patronage, almost no market pressure and guaranteed profits. Used to operating out of such a cocoon, it is no wonder that the Indo-Nepal agreement would make the FNTE members nervous. With the agreement in place, Indian bus operators need not play by FNTE’s inward-looking and cartel-friendly rules. To make money, most likely, they will offer different service packages and wider choices that appeal to both Nepali and Indian customers interested in visiting either country. Sooner or later, their operating to and from Nepal will also force us to deal seriously with issues of adulterated petrol, the needless traffic-related deaths and destruction that occur all too often on our highways and how transport-related services (auto repair, insurance, advertising etc) are bought and sold in the marketplace. The FNTE members can bury their heads in the sand and continue to shout for protection by launching chakka-jams. Or they can wisely accept the change as an opportunity to improve business and access new markets in India and Nepal. Let’s hope that they take the latter route by first ungluing themselves from FNTE (which has now outlived its usefulness) to put out even catchier, more competitive jingles on the radio. Source: - http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/186/StrictlyBusiness/4017

I agree with you ashu, it is very depressing.

Katrina, It is depressing, to be sure; but not hopeless. I can't do much from where I am; neither can you from where you are, and nor can others from where they are . . . except to, well, read the news and look on glumly. BUT If we join hands to consistently ramp up the level of public attention that this issue deserves, who knows, we might be able to catch the attention of Nepal's media while making more people aware of what goes on when such accidents happen with mind-numbing regularity in Nepal. That's the hope, anyway. One tiny revolution, at a time. Let's see. oohi ashu

From today's (Monday, 30 October 2006) ko Kantipur editorial. It's a start -- but the momentum needs to be built up further ************** दुर्घटना र सजाय Source: - http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnepalinews.php?&nid=89939 पछिल्लोपटक फेरि ४२ मध्यपश्चिमेलीले अनाहकमा ज्यान गुमाएका छन् । आफ्नो गन्तव्य पुग्न हतारिएका उनीहरूका आफन्तले त्यसअघि नै मृत्युवरणको दुःखद खबर सुन्नुपर्‍यो । सल्यानको खरिबोटबाट दाङको तुलसीपुर गइरहेको बस २ सय मिटर तलको खोलामा खसेपछि भएको यो दुर्घटनामा ६ जना बालबालिकासमेत परेका छन् । धेरैको अवस्था चिन्ताजनक भएकाले मृतकको संख्या बढ्ने संकेत पनि देखिएको छ । दुर्घटनाका धेरै कारण हुनसक्छन् । ब्रेक फेल हुनु, अनाहक पहिरो आउनु, सवारी गुडिरहेको जमिन एक्कासी भास्सिनुजस्ता कारण एकातर्फ छन्, जसलाई रोक्न सकिने सम्भावना हुँदैन । अर्कोतर्फ सानो बाटोमा सवारी छिराउन खोज्नु, क्षमताभन्दा बढी यात्रु राखेर सवारीलाई अनियन्त्रित गराउनुजस्ता कारण पनि छन्, जसलाई दुर्घटना हुनुको कारणबाट पन्छाउन सकिन्छ । तर विडम्बना, मुलुकमा भएका पछिल्ला सवारी दुर्घटनाका कारणमा यिनै रोक्न सकिनेले प्राथमिकता पाएका छन् । बाहिर आएको तथ्यहरूका आधारमा हेर्दा यो सवारीमा पनि ँक्षमताभन्दा बढी यात्रु’ दुर्घटनाको प्रमुख कारण ठान्न सकिन्छ । दशैं र तिहारजस्ता नेपालीका महान् चाडका कारण निश्चितै रूपमा ओहोरदोहोर गर्नेको चाप बढी छ । यो चाप सवारीमा पनि देखिनु अस्वाभाविक होइन । त्यसैले सवारीका भित्री हिँड्ने बाटोमात्र होइन, छतसमेत खचाखच भरिएका सवारीलाई चालकहरूले सकी-नसकी कुदाइरहेका दृश्य सहरी क्षेत्रमै पनि सामान्य बनिरहेका छन् । जसलाई ट्राफिक प्रहरीले नियमभन्दा पनि व्यावहारिक आँखाले हेर्ने गरेका छन् । यिनै दृश्य केहीछिनमै दुर्घटनामा परिणत भएका समाचार बारम्बार आइरहेका छन् । तर पनि सवारी नियम पालना गराउने ट्राफिक प्रहरी, नियम उल्लंघन गर्ने यातायात व्यवसायी र जानी-नजानी यसमा सहभागी यात्रु कसैको पनि ध्यान यसतर्फ डोरिनसकेको छैन । एकातर्फ सबैतिर ट्राफिक प्रहरीको व्यवस्था छैन भने अर्कोतर्फ राजधानी र त्यसकै सेरोफेरोमै पनि यस्ता दृश्य सामान्य बन्नुले ट्राफिक भए घटना हुन्नथ्यो कि भन्ने आशा पनि भरपर्दो मान्न सकिन्न । एकैपटक धेरै पैसा असुल्न हतारिने यातायात व्यवसायी यस्ता दुर्घटनाका प्रमुख कारक हुन् । सिटभन्दा बढी यात्रु बोक्न नपाइने नियम थाहा हुँदाहुँदै त्यसलाई बेवास्ता गर्ने उनीहरूको पेलाहा नीति नै धेरैको ज्यान गइरहनुको मुख्य कारण हो । अर्कातिर चेतनाको अभावमा होस् या सवारी सञ्चालनमा कमीका कारण, झुन्डिएर र छतमा बसेर यात्रा गर्नेको बाध्यता पनि यसमा जिम्मेवार छ । वृद्ध भत्ता असुल्ने उमेरका सवारी र अपूर्ण सडकले पनि दुर्घटनालाई धेरथोर सघाइरहेका छन् । दण्डहीनता वा नाममात्रको दण्ड व्यवस्थाले पनि यस्ता दुर्घटनालाई दूर गर्नुको सट्टा प्रोत्साहित गरिरहेको महसुस हुन्छ । क्षमताभन्दा बढी यात्रु राख्नेलाई सुरुमा २५ रुपैयाँ र त्यसलाई क्रमशः बढाउँदै लगेर चौथो, पाँचौं पटकमा ँबढीमा २००’ रुपैयाँको जरिवाना हुनसक्ने व्यवस्था छ । यो आफैंमा किन हास्यास्पद छ भने झुन्डिएर यात्रा गर्ने एउटै व्यक्तिबाट उठाइनेभन्दा पनि यो ँअधिकतम जरिवाना’ को रकम कम छ । दण्ड सजाय व्यवस्थाको मान्यता नियम उल्लंघनकारीलाई हतोत्साही तुल्याउने हुन्छ, तर यो सजाय व्यवस्थाले त्यो मान्यता पछ्याएको देखिन्न । त्यसैले यसलाई कडा र प्रभावी तुल्याउन जति ढिलाइ गरिन्छ, त्यति नै थप नेपालीले ज्यान गुमाउने सम्भावना बढिरहन्छ भन्नेमा दुईमत छैन । साथै दुर्घटनाका कारणबारे फैलाउनुपर्ने जनचेतना पनि कम महत्त्वपूर्ण छैन । Posted on: 2006-10-29 22:47:19

The locals take the actions themselves. But all these promises are un-enforceable. I would not be suprised if another bus plunges into the Bhatta River in a few weeks or months, killing more. oohi ashu ***************** तुलसीपुर-सल्यान सडक सुचारु कास दाङ, कार्तिक १४ - सल्यान बस दुर्घटनाका मृतकका परिवारलाई तत्काल १७ हजार रुपैयाँ उपलब्ध गराउने सहमतिपछि तुलसीपुर-सल्यान सडक सुचारु भएको छ । अन्य सहमतिमा माघ महिनासम्म प्रतिमृतक ५० हजार रुपैयाँ उपलब्ध गराउने, सडकमा दुईबटा बस थप्ने, यात्रुबाहक बसहरूले १५ क्विन्टलभन्दा बढी सामान बोक्न नपाउने, पुराना मोडलका बस हटाउन तत्काल पहल गर्नेलगायतका छन् । त्यस्तै 'क्यु मिस' गर्ने गाडीले यात्रुहरूलाई निःशुल्क खाना खुबाउनुपर्ने र छतमा यात्रु राख्न नपाउने पनि सहमति भएका छन् । सम्पूर्ण घाइतेहरूको निःशुल्क उपचार गर्नुपर्ने मागमा सहमति हुन नसके पनि त्यसका लागि पुनः छलफल गरी सहमति कायम गरिने भएको छ । सल्यान बस दुर्घटनापछि सल्यान त्रिवेणी र लान्ती बजार क्षेत्रका स्थानीयवासीले मृतकका परिवारलाई उचित क्षतिपूर्ति दिनुपर्ने, घाइतेको निःशुल्क स्वास्थ्य उपचार गर्नुपर्ने तथा तुलसीपुर-सल्यानलगायतका ग्रामीण सडकहरूमा २ हजार मोडलभन्दा पुराना गाडी सञ्चालनमा रोक लगाउनुपर्ने लगायतका ६ सूत्रीय माग गर्दै तुलसीपुर- सल्यान सडक अवरुद्व गरेका थिए । Posted on: 2006-10-31 20:42:44