KATHMANDU, Feb 18 - Thousands of students in the Valley could not attend school on Monday as school buses have run out of fuel. Little Angels School at Hattiban, Graded English Medium School at Dhapakhel and Bright Future Secondary School at Naya Naikap, among others, could not run classes owing to the fuel crisis.
Lakshya Bahadur KC, assistant chairperson of Private and Boarding Schools Organization (PABSON), said more than 15 schools in the Valley remained closed Monday due to unavailability of fuel.
"If the problem continues, all big schools that depend on buses to bring their students for classes will have to shut down," he said, adding that the government should come up with a special provision for supplying fuel to schools, hospitals, and other essential sectors.
Pratibha Mishra, a senior teacher at Kingdom Star Boarding School at Bandegaon, said disruption of classes ahead of the final examinations is a cause for serious worry for students and teachers alike.
"Some students are in need of revision classes, while others need special help to prepare for the exams," Mishra said.
Due to chronic strikes and school closures, the schools were already behind in covering their courses. "Now, the fuel crisis has dealt another blow to students," Mishra added.
Meanwhile, hospitals are on the verge of cutting all services except emergency, again due to the fuel crisis.
Doctors insist the government should instantly come up with a contingency plan and ensure that work at essential service providers like hospitals is not hampered.
Director of TU Teaching Hospital Dr Mahesh Khakurel said the hospital may soon not be in a position to provide anything other than emergency services. He said hospital staff have been commuting on foot as staff buses are no longer in operation for lack of fuel.
"Hospital staff who are supposed to reach the hospital at 9 am reach there at 1 pm only," Dr Khakurel said.
The hospital will soon be unable to run its ambulances. "Until now we have been managing somehow to operate ambulances. However, we won't be in a position to continue doing so after a few days if the fuel crisis persists," he added.
Also, because of a lack of cooking gas and kerosene, the hospital canteen is not operating at full capacity.
Similarly, Director of Martyr Gangalal National Heart Center Dr Bhagwan Koirala said the hospital won't be able to do much if patients start dying in ventilators due to lack of fuel to ensure uninterrupted power supply. "Before the situation worsens, the government should bring in a contingency plan to provide hospitals with 24 hours of power and other fuel supply," Dr Koirala said.
Dr Arjun Karki of Patan Hospital said that hospital staff are managing transportation on their own as the hospital does not have fuel to run staff buses.
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