Gaighat, May 11

Lockdown was eased in Udayapur due to pressure from some local representatives.

The District Coordination Committee meeting yesterday under the chairmanship of Khadga Bahadur Pariyar decided to ease the lockdown in Udayapur from today.

The meeting in the presence of political parties’ representatives, provincial lawmakers, chief district officer, chief of the security departments and mediapersons, among others, decided to ease the lockdown to ensure economic and social life of the public.

Some people’s representatives at the meeting said the lockdown had to ease as they faced problems in distributing relief at the local levels.

The chief district officer, security departments and mediapersons had stressed the need to continue the lockdown as a preventive and precautionary measure against COVID-19. They were against the decision as the district was at high risk of the virus spreading.

Federation of Nepali Journalists Udayapur Chapter President Bharat Khadka said the lockdown was eased due to the local representatives. He said Bhulke area of Udayapur was still at high risk of the virus spreading as four persons had tested positive on Saturday. He added that the decision was made too soon and it could invite fatal consequences.

Chief District Officer Dipak Pahadi said the lockdown should not have been eased as the risk of infection was increasing daily. He added that the lockdown should have continued.

Chief of Udayapur District Police Office Bir Bahadur Budhamagar said it was very difficult to manage movement after the decision to ease the lockdown. He added that the lockdown ought to have continued as fear of the virus had not ended.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 12, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.