By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Aug. 14: District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu has barred entry and exit of vehicles and people to and from Thursday after the coronavirus cases spiked in the Kathmandu Valley and other districts.
The DAO Kathmandu issued the order as per the decision made by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday evening.
According to Kamal Prasad Pandey, administrative officer at the DAO, the order, however, will not be applicable to the vehicles carrying essential goods, delivering and importing medicines, petroleum products and other services that are categorised as essential services.
The Home Ministry on Wednesday ordered the DAO of Kathmandu and 76 other districts of the country to stop issuing and distributing vehicle passes for an indefinite period.
Meanwhile, the Sanga-based police post in Kavre on Thursday sent back over 200 two wheelers and 95 four wheelers and some taxis coming to Kathmandu to their place of departure.
“We have also returned those vehicles coming from Kathmandu to enter Kavrepalanchowk district except the ones carrying essential goods,” Sub-inspector and in-charge at Sanga Police Post Harisharan Basnet told The Rising Nepal.
Similarly, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and chief at Thankot-based Metropolitan Police Circle Ghanashyam Shrestha said that the Thankot check post had sealed off the highway from Thursday morning barring vehicles to come into or exit from the valley.
On Thursday alone, 637 private vehicles, including two wheelers, were blocked from entering the valley although some of them possessed vehicle passes issued earlier.
“Ambulances carrying patients were also strictly monitored and their details recorded at the office to discourage them to carry fake patients,” he said. Complaints have been received about the ambulances carrying fake patients, thus from today, we have been seeking all the details of the patients and ambulance carrying patients to verify the emergency situation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bara district has also stopped vehicles passing from one district to another from Thursday after the new order of the government, according to CDO Rudra Prasad Pandit. The restriction will come into effect until further notice, he said.
Security bodies, including the traffic police, have set up security check points in the main highway along the East-West Highway from Nijgadh in the east, Pathalaiya in the west, and Amalekhgunj in the north.
District Police Office of Bara’s SP Krishna Prasad Pangeni said that they even fined and kept vehicles on hold for hours from those violating the government’s order. He said the District Police had also controlled the movement of general public on the roads.
Likewise, local bodies in State 5 have imposed lockdown and some have sealed off their respective territories after the cases of virus went up there.
Strict measures have been adopted in the State and many local bodies have imposed lockdown while some have sealed off their areas, said Shiva Raj Subedi, coordinator of Nepal Municipality Association of State 5.
He said Butwal Sub-metropolitan City has imposed lockdown beginning from August 13 until August 20.