Normal life has been badly hit with the partial halt in the delivery of services from government institutions since the start of the nationwide anti-government demonstrations carried out by seven opposition parties.

Talking to Nepalnews on Friday, Managing Director of Nepal Telecom (NT) Sugat Ratna Kanshakar admitted that some services at the NT have been disrupted due to ‘difficult situation’, even as the mobile phone services that were shut down on April 6 have resumed. “We have extended the duration for fines on late payment as the customers have not been able to pay their bills on time,” he said.

Officials in some NT outlets have stopped the distribution of new telephone lines while the maintenance service has been completely out of order and the inquiry section has been closed. NT officials at Chabahil exchange even went on to advise the customers to contact them only after the demonstrations are over.

Customers coming to pay their telephone bills have been forced to return as the revenue NT’s counters remain closed since a week.

Kanshakar explained that disturbances in services were due to the imposition of curfew, not because of the general strike called by the seven parties.

Spokesperson of the Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) Chandreshwor Shah said the corporation has been managing service delivery with limited officials while majority of the staffers are joining in the protest programmes. “Our focus is not to let our services stop despite the strikes by our staffers,” he claimed.

A number of staffers who have joined in the street demonstrations have been carrying out their duties regularly, he said.

Meanwhile, Kathmandu Metropolitan City officials said they were having difficulties in colleting garbage in the initial days but, for them, things are returning to normal. But garbage collectors started going to the households only after seven days on Wednesday when the curfew orders were ended.

Ironically, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has ended the daily load-shedding of five hours in the capital with the start of the seven-party movement.

Despite government warning, the staffers in these services stopped works to expresses their solidarity to the democratic movement.

Following a spate of protests by the employees in various offices, the government recently banned strikes in essential services like postal services, telecommunications, hospitals, transportation, airways, services related to the airports, supply, storage, cargos and government’s printing and publication offices. nepalnews.com Indra Adhikari Apr 14 06