More than 576,000 people have left the Kathmandu Valley since Ghatasthapana, the first day of the ten-day Bada Dashain festival, according to figures from the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office reported by Khabarhub. As of the latest count, a total of 576,578 travellers had departed the capital in 79,676 vehicles, in one of the largest annual movements of people out of the Valley as residents set off for their home districts to celebrate the festival with their families.
A steady climb in holiday departures
The outflow from the capital has built up day by day since the festival began. According to figures released by traffic police spokesperson Naresh Raj Subedi, 109,636 people left the Valley in the first three days after Ghatasthapana. By the middle of the festival, the cumulative total had crossed 348,000, a milestone reported by The Himalayan Times, and by October 17 the count had risen to nearly 500,000.
The most recent update from the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office now puts the total at 576,578 people travelling in 79,676 vehicles. That means the tally has grown by well over 75,000 departures in the latest stage of counting alone, underlining how the movement out of the capital has accelerated as the festival has progressed.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Rabindra Khanal has also been reporting departures recorded through various checkpoints around the Valley, where police have tracked the movement of passengers and vehicles throughout the holiday period.
Key figures at a glance
- 576,578 people have left the Kathmandu Valley since Ghatasthapana, as of the latest count
- The departures were made in 79,676 vehicles
- 109,636 people left in the first three days after Ghatasthapana
- The cumulative total topped 348,000 by mid-festival
- Nearly 500,000 departures had been recorded by October 17
Crowded exit points across the capital
Traffic has been rising steadily at the Valley's main exit points, including the New Bus Park in Gongabu, Machhapokhari and Kalanki, as travellers make their way out of the capital for the festival break. The departure points have seen a sharp increase in the number of buses and vehicles leaving the Valley each day since the festival began.
According to a report by My Republica, more than 207,000 passengers left Kathmandu from the New Bus Park in Gongabu alone for Dashain. That figure accounts for more than a third of all departures recorded by the traffic police so far, making the Gongabu terminal the single busiest exit point in the Valley.
The concentration of travellers at Gongabu, Machhapokhari and Kalanki reflects the pressure placed on the capital's transport hubs every Dashain, when the daily movement of people out of the Valley climbs sharply. The traffic police, who compile the departure figures, have continued to release updated counts at successive stages of the festival.
Damaged highways test the travel network
The scale of this year's exodus has been matched by strain on the roads serving the capital. Damaged highways have tested the travel network during the festival period, as reported by The Himalayan Times, adding to the challenge of moving hundreds of thousands of people out of the Valley within a matter of days.
Despite the condition of the road network, the departures logged at checkpoints and major exit points have continued to rise through each stage of the festival, with the traffic police tally climbing from just over 100,000 in the opening days to more than 576,000 in the latest count.
Dashain and the annual journey home
Bada Dashain, the ten-day festival that begins with Ghatasthapana, prompts one of the largest annual movements of people in Nepal. Those who live and work in the Kathmandu Valley typically use the holiday period to return to their home districts, producing a concentrated surge in outbound traffic from the capital in the opening days of the festival.
This year's figures trace that movement in detail. Within three days of Ghatasthapana, nearly 110,000 people had already left the Valley. The total more than tripled by mid-festival, crossing 348,000, before climbing to nearly 500,000 by October 17 and reaching 576,578 in the most recent tally published by the authorities.
With 576,578 departures in 79,676 vehicles, the traffic police figures offer a running measure of how the capital empties out for the holiday. The tally, updated through successive stages of the festival, has grown steadily from just under 110,000 in the first three days to well over half a million as of the latest count released by the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office.
