PANCHTHAR: Life in Majhi settlements situated on the banks of Tamor River in Gaddtir, bordering Panchthar and Terathum is getting distressful owing to the nationwide lockdown enforced by government to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

The community people that earn their livelihoods by selling fish from the river are in the verge of food shortage after their fish stopped selling.

Their source of income has come to a halt as no one approaches them to buy fish nor they are able to visit the market to sell, claimed Pancha Maya Majhi, local of Hilihang-7.

Majhi community, one of the indigenous communities in the country, are densely settled along the bank of Tamor River. There are as many as 150 Majhi families settled in various locations of Panchthar and Terathum districts.

According to Jas Bahadur Majhi, a leader of the community, problems are piling in their lives after the COVID-19 pandemic enforced a standstill in their earning activities.

People from the community have been getting together and passing their time during the lockdown by playing games such as ludo and chess. Otherwise, they are worrying about their lives, shrugging off the lockdown regulations and physical distancing urged by the government, in lack of social awareness among them.