KATHMANDU, Sept 20: More than 1,000 government vehicles—about 400 four-wheelers and 600 motorcycles—were torched or vandalized during the Gen-Z uprising and are now being moved to the Parliament building grounds in New Baneshwor for safekeeping. Ministries have begun compiling formal damage reports while trying to function with the few vehicles that escaped destruction.
According to Narayan Mainali, spokesperson for the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), the ministry and its subordinate offices lost 52 small vehicles and about 70 motorcycles. Similarly, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) reported that nine cars were burned and 13 others vandalized. The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers lost 48 small vehicles and 70 motorcycles, while the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) saw 25 cars and 30 motorcycles destroyed.
The Department of Roads has formed a committee led by Deputy Director General Shyam Khadka to collect detailed records of the burned vehicles. Before the uprising, most ministries—except the Ministry of Health and Population—were housed inside the Singha Durbar complex, which also contains several commissions and government media offices. Many of these buildings and their parked vehicles suffered extensive fire damage and vandalism during the protests.
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All affected offices have begun cataloguing their burned vehicles and damaged property, many forming committees to expedite the process. Ministries are operating with a limited number of vehicles that survived. After the formation of the interim government, curiosity has grown over how the Prime Minister and ministers are being transported. A source at the MoHA said the ministry is managing vehicles for the Prime Minister and ministers, as it did earlier for VIPs, even though many of its own vehicles were destroyed.
Beginning Thursday, the MoHA started transferring the burned vehicles to the Parliament building premises in New Baneshwor for storage. Rabindra Acharya, joint spokesperson and information officer at the ministry, said the Internal Administration Division’s Vehicle and Ceremony Management Section is arranging transport for VIPs using the surviving fleet.
Most ministries have provided their secretaries with the few cars that escaped the fires. Other staff members are relying on private vehicles, motorcycles, scooters, or ride-sharing services such as Pathao and Indrive. Some are walking to work. Bhimarjun Adhikari, spokesperson for the MoPIT, said that apart from secretaries, employees have to arrange their own transportation. “I myself am using public transport. Other colleagues are also making their own arrangements,” he said.
Similarly, MoUD spokesperson Mainali said only one vehicle in the ministry survived the September 9 protests. “That single vehicle is now being used by the secretary. Other employees are managing on their own,” he noted.
According to Mainali, ministries have started preparing formal damage reports and moving the burned vehicles—with insurance procedures completed where applicable—to the Parliament premises for safekeeping.
