As Dashain begins the number of people leaving the Kathmandu Valley for their homes to celebrate festivals including Dashain, Tihar and Chhath has continued to increase.

According to data with the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, over 100,000 people left the valley for the festivals in the past 24 hours. With this, the number of people leaving the Valley for home to observe the festivals has crossed 466,000 so far since the day of Ghatasthapana, October 15, the day marking the start of Dashain festival, said Senior Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad Bhatta, spokesperson for the traffic police office.

The number of people moving out of the Valley has increased since the past three days, he said. According to him, 51,279 people left the Valley on 15 October, the day of Ghatasthapana and 51,387 moved out of the Valley the following day. Similarly, 73,896 people left the Valley on 17 October, 91,102 on October 18 and 98,332 on October 19.

The number of people leaving the valley for their home to celebrate festivals may be high as people going on private vehicles have been excluded, he said.