Kathmandu, May 8
Thinking of going out this afternoon? If you are, there are chances that you may get stuck on the road for pretty long time.
No, this is not an astrologer’s prediction. This is because President Bidhya Devi Bhandari will be leaving the Pesidential Palace, the Sital Niwas, for the Parliament to present the government’s policies and programmes.
A big day, isn’t it?
The royals have gone and so have their regimes, but even in the republican scheme of things, Nepali people continue to face traffic jams reminiscent of yesteryears’ royal ‘Savari’ whenever President and Prime Minister leave their palaces to attend programmes. This is in part due to the bureaucracy’s tendency of regarding those at the helm of affairs of this republic as the new royals. In part, it is due to security reasons.
President Bhandari will arrive at the Parliament Secretariat from Sital Niwas at 4 pm to present the government’s policies and programmes. This means certain routes will literally shut for public and private vehicles for some time to facilitate President’s safe arrival to the House and return to Sital Niwas.
A discussion on this ‘tradition’ of shutting the roads during ‘Savari’ of VIPs and VVIPs is long overdue. One wonders if it will be possible to airlift VIPs from their sprawling palaces to the programme venues on occasions. This is one way to make people feel that royals have gone and so have their ways.
A study into management of VIPs’ and VVIPs’ outings in foreign countries may offer the government a way out. How about sending a team of lawmakers and government officials in foreign countries to see how governments concerned manage such outings? No doubt, an overwhelming number of lawmakers and officials will be interested in this study, thanks to their ‘scholarly bent of mind’.
But for now, it will be wise on your part to tune into Traffic Police FM for the traffic scenario and think of scenes like traffic police personnel shutting parts of the road and rerouting vehicles before you hit the road.
