NATIONAL 6 -(Spotlight Weekly)]

The Mean Streets

The number of taxis in the city has grown and so have the problems of cab drivers

By AKSHAY SHARMA

Kathmandu’s traffic jams are getting longer — both in terms of time and space — and the influx of politically driven Pajeros is only a part of the problem. The increase in the number of taxis of all colors and sizes, while making life easier for passengers, has contributed to a clogging of the streets.

Taxi drivers have to worry about more than just changing gears every few seconds at key intersections. "Sometimes youths stop my taxi and when I let them off to their destination, instead of paying me, they beat me up and vandalize my vehicle," Pravin Khatri says. "Sometimes traffic police officers just get inside my taxi and demand a free ride. I can’t afford not to oblige because they’ll confiscate my driving license."

Cabs in Waiting : Silent woes

Pravin supports his wife, two daughters and three sons along with his parents in Taplejung by earning what he can by driving through what he calls the "mean streets" of Kathmandu. He says he normally earns an average of Rs 1,200 per day. "However, the incidents that happened this month and successive Nepal bandhs have hit us hard. In recent days, our earnings have trickled down to Rs 500 a day." Pravin has to pay Rs 600 a day to his owner and bear fuel costs.

Compared to a decade ago, there has been a 10-fold increase in the number of taxis. The taxis imported then were 70s-model Toyota Corollas, which you can still manage to run into. Newer models of Maruti and Daewoo have come out in the streets in throngs.

Passengers are obviously relieved. "Earlier, it was difficult to get a taxi after 10pm," says Manish Sapkota. "Now you can pick the color of the taxi you want at three in the morning."

Some drivers say increased security in recent days has created new problems. "After the recent turn of events, police have started searching every part of my vehicle every few kilometers," says Bishwa Gharti of Pokhara. "They have the right to do that, but the language they use is sometimes unbearable."

Police officers say they are just doing their job. "We have our orders and have to act according to them," one officer told SPOTLIGHT.

Drivers have scary tales to tell. "A month ago, I was stopped by a few teenagers who said they wanted to go to Jawalakhel," says Kabindra Hoju, who lives in Bhaktapur. "I was looking at my rear-view mirror and saw that these youth were armed with khukris. I was scared that I just sped toward Jawalakhel. One of the youths stayed inside the taxi as the others got out and started slashing another group of youths with their khukris. The guy inside of my taxi warned me not to run away."

"As the gang of youths got into my taxi, suddenly there were a volley of stones that smashed my windscreen from the side that the youths had attacked," he said. "Scared as I was, the youths demanded that they be taken to Tripureswor. They just ran away without paying the fare, and the last I saw of them was getting into another taxi."

Pravin says such nasty experiences are fairly common. "There are so many cases where sometimes a single youth or a couple have stopped my taxi. They name their destination and say different things like ‘We have a friend and would you mind waiting while we call them’, and they leave never to return. I have waited for hours expecting them to return."

Rameswor Thapa Magar, 36, of Chitlang, says he drives taxis to support his two sons. "My eldest son is 14 and he’s in the 10th grade. It’s hard to survive on the little land we own in Chitlang. We men are quite lazy and it is hard for us to work in the fields of our villages," he says.

"I’ve driven taxis in Kathmandu for six years now to ensure a better future for my children," Rameswor says. "I get to keep between Rs 300 and Rs 400 a day after paying the owner and deducting fuel costs."

Asked about reports of vandalism and violent behavior of some youths, he says," I haven’t seen much of that. Maybe it’s because I don’t drive at night."