Doti people returning home as local levels welcome them

Kathmandu - The people of Doti who had gone to India for jobs have started returning home with the increasing risk of COVID-19 in India and subsequent impact of lockdown against the virus. Local levels here have given green signal to those people stuck along the border points due to the nationwide lockdown implemented since March 24 to control the virus. Till Saturday, at least 785 people were picked up from border points and brought here by local levels, said the Dipayal Silgadhi Municipality.

Lately, over 6,000 people entered the country via Nepal-India border points in Kailali and Kanchhanpur districts in the State. The District Police Office, Doti, said nine local levels here were facilitating locals to arrive homes from the border areas. They have been put in several quarantine centers.

Jorayal Rural Municipality Vice Chair Jamuna Bohara said earlier it was decided to rescue those citizens left stranded along the border areas by respective local levels on own expenses. It is estimated that at least 8,000 to 10,000 people from Doti had been in several towns of India for jobs before the lockdown.

Dipayal Silgadhi Municipality Mayor Manju Malasi said the rescue efforts were going on with the help of state government. The rescued are and will be put in quarantine with medical checkup, according to her. However, there are complaint of poor facilities in the district-based quarantines. It is said such quarantines lack even basic facilities such as toilet, drinking water, fuel and bedding, said one Sarbajati Deuba of Jorayal Rural Municipality-5

. Moreover, those in the quarantine are devoid of testing as the District Hospital is running out of a stock of Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kits, shared one Shyam Bahadur Kathayat of Dipayal Silgadhi-2. ''It really poses a grave threat of infection and its rise.'' However, the people rescued from border points are happy because at least they are at homes and no longer have to live a miserable life they had abroad.