KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 1

Chief district officers of the three districts in Kathmandu valley may recommend that the government ease the lockdown, resulting from prohibitory orders in place, from Thursday. They have been holding virtual meetings to dwell on the issue.

The final decision to ease the lockdown, however, will be taken as per the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs tomorrow.

“Many stakeholders have recommended partially lifting the lockdown citing hardship faced by the people due to absolute closure of all kinds of activities. We will make a final decision tomorrow as per the direction from the Home Ministry,” said Humakala Pandey,CDO of Bhaktapur district.

Prohibitory order in place, introduced to subdue COV- ID-19, is expiring on Wednesday midnight. The Nepal government had first imposed the prohibitory order in the capital on August 20. Previously, the whole nation was under lockdown for several months from March 24.

A source at Bhaktapur District Administration Office, said the meeting held today also discussed allowing vehicles related to construction projects to be allowed to ply on the road and allowing construction works to resume. Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply and Ministry and Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation have in written requested the valley CDOs to loosen up the prohibitory order while the local governments in the valley have urged to prolong the order for one more week.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on September 2, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.