The Department of Roads has been urged to complete the road maintenance works before Ghatasthapana, first day of the Dashain festival, during the meeting of the transport entrepreneurs and officials from the and Ministry for Physical Infrastructure and Transport. Dashain begins this year on October 3.

As Dashain nears, hundreds of thousands of Nepalis travel home to celebrate the festival with their families and relatives. But, they rarely have a memorable travelling experience. While they are charged expensive ticket fares, surge in vehicular movement amid poor road conditions add to the risk for accidents, which have spiked in recent months .

Nearly 13,000 people were killed and around 118,500 were injured in road accidents in five years between July 2018 and July 2023, according to Nepal Police statistics.

More people die in road accidents in Nepal than in all the natural disasters combined, according to government data. Nepal police data earlier in March this year showed that seven individuals, on average, are killed in road accidents in Nepal every day.

Punya Prasad Sitaula, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepali National Transport Entrepreneurs, told RSS, the state-owned news agency that the meeting also decided to request Home Ministry and Nepal Police to effectively implement the decision of not operating vehicles along the BP highway during night and to open advance ticket booking soon by holding discussion with Department of Transport Management. 

The meeting further directed the Department of Transport Management to ensure fair transport fare. 

Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Devendra Dahal, Secretary Keshav Kumar Sharma, Joint-Secretary Krishna Raj Panth, President of the Federation of Nepali National Transport Entrepreneurs, Bijay Bahadur Swar, Senior Vice-Chair Sitaula, and the employees of Department of Transport Management among others participated in the meeting, according to RSS.