KATHMANDU: After drawing criticism from several quarters, the government has rolled back its decision to let people stranded in Kathmandu due to lockdown to leave the Valley on Friday and Saturday. The decision of the government didn’t last even for one and a half hours.
A meeting of the high-level government committee to prevent and contain novel coronavirus today had made the decision to let people leave Kathmandu considering people, particularly college students and daily wagers, who left the Valley on foot amid the extended lockdown.
The decision was annulled after the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Transport expressed disagreement with the decision.
“We had been discussing the issue for the past few days. We came to know that a decision to that end has been made today,” an official at the Home Ministry said, “The Ministry has made it clear that people can’t be allowed to leave Katmandu in the status quo. Ministry of Transport too objected to the decision.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation Basant Kumar Nembang has made it clear that no decision has been so far taken to allow people to leave Kathmandu Valley on Friday and Saturday.
Minister Nembang clarified the matter when various media reports stated that the government decided to permit vehicular movement from the valley to the destinations of the people. However, such recommendations are obvious when people are finding it difficult during the time of lockdown, the minister said.
Nembang said he also came to know from media that people have resorted to traveling by foot hundreds of kilometers to reach their destinations.
“As the lockdown has been extended up to April 15, the further decision will be taken after assessing the situation”.
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