The Maoists may have lifted their blockade of highways leading to Kathmandu but the week-long stoppage caused losses of Rs 20 billion in business and some Rs 140 million in loss of revenue to the state.

According to FNCCI, retailers cumulatively lost an estimated Rs 2 billion every day in business. The revenue loss to the state was to the tune of Rs 20 million a day. The losses we have calculated do not include the loss of salaries and labour of individuals, says FNCCI vice president, Chandi Raj Dhakal. If we calculate their wages and productivity, the loss would be much higher.

The loss from one week of closed highways is estimated at Rs 20 billion or more if the closure of factories and the fall in transactions nationwide are included. Till Wednesday, we were using stock raw material for production but now we have none. Our machines have come to a halt, said Dhakal.

With the factories shut, industrialists had even considered temporarily laying off workers. Or else the workers will have the choice of remaining on the job on a no-work-no-pay basis, Dhakal said. The losses of the industries do not include farmers who have invested in cash crops and dairies. Millions of rupees worth of vegetable, fruit and milk have been thrown away in Sindhupalchok, Dolakha, Dhading, Chitwan and other tarai districts.