People leaving Kathmandu valley by foot

Kathmandu - People have started leaving Kathmandu Valley to their home towns by foot as the government has imposed lockdown since the past five days. More than 150 people, most of them from the Tarai belt, left the Valley, walking out through the Dakshinkali transit.

As a result, Dakshinkali municipality has been creating awareness against coronavirus and providing the travellers with soap and water at different points on the way, said the municipality deputy mayor Basanti Dangol Tamang. Meanwhile, respective ward offices in the municipality have been asked to collect data of daily wagers in their area so as to ensure them essentials to survive, deputy mayor Tamang said.

Efforts are underway to manage foods for them. Eleven people who returned from India, Qatar, the UAE, Sri Lanka and Japan got health checkups managed by the municipality, and they have been asked to stay in isolation, she said. Facemasks have been sent to wards, she said, adding that efforts were underway to set up a 10-bed quarantine facility at the Chalnakhel health centre at ward-1.