KATHMANDU, MAY 6

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has formed a Disaster Management and Communication Cell to coordinate and rescue the tourists stranded in different parts of the country after the travel restrictions were imposed.

Last year, the board had rescued more than 10,000 tourists stranded in Nepal during the lockdown period.

The government has imposed prohibitory orders in various parts of the country in the wake of the second wave of coronavirus. As per NTB, the cell will facilitate the coordination and rescue of tourists stranded during travel and treks in different districts of the country.

Similarly, the cell will also coordinate hotel quarantine and monitoring of passengers coming to Nepal from India under the Nepal-India Air Bubble Agreement.

Accordingly, the board on Wednesday, in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs, rescued tourists from different parts of the country and brought them to Kathmandu. According to the board, 11 foreigners including five policemen from Langtang, four Ukrainians from Pokhara and two Americans from Lukla have been rescued and brought to Kathmandu.

As per the decision of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on May 6, the board has prepared hotel quarantine criteria for air passengers and facilitated them by liaising and coordinating with the hotels listed by the ministry.

As all the domestic flights and international flights have been halted, the government has allowed choppers to operate for the emergency purpose. Aiming at rescuing tourists, the government has also decided to operate four domestic airports - located in Pokhara, Lukla, Surkhet and Nepalgunj. The government has also stated that chartered international flights will also be allowed if the tourists will need to be evacuated to their countries.

According to the Department of Immigration, so far a total of 51,799 foreigners arrived in Nepal in the first four months of the year. A version of this article appears in the print on May 7, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.