Protests over fuel price hike disrupt industry, transport in Nepal

Jan 25, 2012, 8:12 GMT

Kathmandu - Demonstrations by students against fuel price hikes closed schools, factories and markets and disrupted transport Wednesday in parts of Nepal.

Students started staging daily nationwide demonstrations last week after the government announced a 10-per-cent increase in the prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.

Student groups obstructed traffic in different parts of the country, including the capital, Kathmandu, and the adjoining districts of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

Janakpur district, 400 kilometres south-east of the capital, and Dang district in the south-west were among the worst hit by the strike, which closed schools, markets and plants.

The students have refused to talk to the government unless it revokes the price rise and have said they would intensify their protests.

Security has been stepped up in the wake of protests that have left local and long-distance transport stranded in different parts of the country.

Kathmandu streets had a heavy presence of police in riot gear, who watched as demonstrators chanted slogans against the government.

The students organized a torch rally Tuesday in Kathmandu and said 10 of them would set themselves on fire in front of the Nepal Oil Corp Saturday, if the government does not cancel the price rises.