Kathmandu, May 15
Local officials of neighbouring districts of Nepal and India on Thursday night let around 2,000 people stranded on the other side of the border cross the Jamunaha-Nepalgunj point to go back to their countries.
In around five hours last night, 687 Nepalis stranded in India due to the lockdown imposed to control the coronavirus outbreak in both the countries entered Nepal whereas 1,483 Indians on the Nepal side also went across, according to officials.
The Nepalis entering the country belong to 43 districts of Nepal. Of them, 220 were of Banke and Bardiya districts. Whereas the residents of these two districts have been quarantined at local Mahendra Multiple Campus building, others have been quarantined near the Nepalgunj Customs Office.
Nepalgunj Mayor Dhawal Shamsher Rana says the residents of Banke will be quarantined there for 14 days and will be sent home if they test negative in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. For others, rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) will be conducted and sent to the concerned districts along with the reports. “We have already arranged vehicles for them,” he claims.
