There's a mafia that controls an entire bus industry, and it's threatening violence if environmental regulatory measures are enforced. But this group doesn't hang out at the Bada Bing in North Jersey...this is in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
Official attempts to modernize the busy, highly polluted metropolis of Nepal have been blocked by a local faction of "entrepreneurs" called the National Federation of Transport Entrepreneurs (NFTE). Political donations help the group maintain their influence, which keeps about 2,500 of their technically non-street-legal buses on the road. This contributes to air quality more than 6 times the particulate threshold as recommended by the World Health Organization.
When approached by an undercover reporter about starting an operation of new buses along their route, Dharma Rimal, the Bagmati Zone Chief of the NFTE, warned “Careful, there might be problems for you if your new buses operate without our consent...it is we who decide who is allowed and who is not on this route. You will regret it if you defy us.” #SolarNews (sources: Digital Journal, Nepali Times)
Official attempts to modernize the busy, highly polluted metropolis of Nepal have been blocked by a local faction of "entrepreneurs" called the National Federation of Transport Entrepreneurs (NFTE). Political donations help the group maintain their influence, which keeps about 2,500 of their technically non-street-legal buses on the road. This contributes to air quality more than 6 times the particulate threshold as recommended by the World Health Organization.
When approached by an undercover reporter about starting an operation of new buses along their route, Dharma Rimal, the Bagmati Zone Chief of the NFTE, warned “Careful, there might be problems for you if your new buses operate without our consent...it is we who decide who is allowed and who is not on this route. You will regret it if you defy us.” #SolarNews (sources: Digital Journal, Nepali Times)
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