The bandh culture has taken a turn for the worse, with statistics showing that in the past six months only 12 days were free of any kind of bandh. Bandhs were enforced on as many as 166 days in the last six months, disrupting vehicular traffic and shutting down government offices, business establishments, hospitals and bazaars. All days in January, February and April saw a bandh or a strike in some part of the country. Except for March 18 and June 13, bandhs and strikes were recorded every day in the two months. In May, 46 bandhs were recorded, while June has seen 57 bandhs and strikes. The increasing culture of bandhs is severely affecting the poor’s ability to feed themselves, forcing many to skip meals and scavenge for food or borrow money and sell off assets to survive, the UN World Food Programme said in a bulletin. The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries also informed that the nation loses revenue worth $7 million to $14 million on every bandh day. Organisers                Jan    Feb    March    April    May    June    Total UCPN-Maoist           10       5             7            8     17      22       69 NC                              2       0             5            3       3        2       15 CPN-UML                  4       1             8            4       0        0       17 MJF / TMDP / NSP     1       7             0            0       0        2       10 Traders / transports     35     33             7            7       5        5       92 Locals                         32     40           33          45       9      16     175 Tarai groups / others    38    17            33          35     12      10     145 Total                         122   103          93         102    46       57     523