DHARAN: As the news of food crisis came to fore due to nationwide lockdown in Dharan Sub-metropolitan city, Santosh Limbu, chair of ward 5 took an initiative to distribute relief items to economically marginalised people and daily wage earners.

Limbu handed over 25 kg rice sacks, 2 kg pulse, 1-litre edible oil, and 1 kg salt, and vegetables to 43 impoverished families living in squatters' settlement, in the presence of local representatives, journalists, among others today.

After distributing the relief items, ward chair Limbu urged locals to stay inside their homes as a precautionary measure to prevent the disease from spreading in the area.

So far, Nepal has reported four confirmed cases of COVID-19 which causes respiratory illness due to coronavirus and the government took the decision to impose a weeklong nationwide lockdown to halt the spread of the aggressive virus in Nepal.