Suresh Raj Neupane

Around 400 Nepalis, most of them working in various cities in India, have been stranded in New Delhi amid coronavirus lockdown. They were on their way home. Nepali migrant workers based in Bangalore, Chandigarh and Shimla, among other places, had arrived in the Indian capital city to return to Nepal.

On Sunday, India was placed under ‘people’s curfew’ announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As a result of the curfew, the travel plans of Nepalis were disrupted. Starting Monday, New Delhi has suspended all passenger trains and inter-state bus services while 75 districts of various states, including Uttar Pradesh, from where coronavirus cases have been reported, have been put under lockdown. The lockdown orders have stranded all home-bound Nepalis.

“We came to know about the closure only after we arrived in New Delhi," said Santosh Chunara of Dailekh, who was spotted at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal in Delhi.

Chunara, who works at a hotel in Bangalore, decided to return home after Covid-19 cases started to rise in India. "Fear has gripped the people, work is down. So I decided to return home,” said Chunara.

Chunara and his friends were discussing their further plans but were not sure what they should do in the time of lockdown.

"Most of us work in hotels and restaurants in Bangalore and our owners asked us to take leave of one to two months," said Pramash Tamata of Nawagadh Rural Municipality in Darchula.

With Indian police now preventing people from gathering, Nepalis stranded at the bus park are further confused.

"We are stuck on the streets here. We can't go anywhere. Police prevent us from going to any places," said Chunara.

Around 25 Nepalis are also stranded in Chattarpur in New Delhi. They were also heading home from Bangalore. They have nowhere to go as bus services have been cancelled due to a lockdown announced by the New Delhi government.

"We were planning to take a bus from here and reach Darchula through Pithoragarh. But there are no buses here and we have nowhere to go," said Tamata.

Stranded Nepalis have demanded that the Nepal government help them return home at the earliest.

"How long can we stay on roads like this? We hope the government finds a solution soon," said Chunara.

Various Nepali organisations in New Delhi said they are coordinating with the Nepali embassy in New Delhi to rescue the stranded people.

"We are trying to coordinate with the Nepali embassy in New Delhi to find ways to rescue them," said RB Khadka, central secretary of Akhil Bharat Nepal Ekata Manch. Officials at the Nepali embassy in New Delhi also said they were looking for ways to help the Nepalis stranded in Delhi and other places.

Bharat Kumar Regmi, deputy chief of mission at the embassy, said they were trying to make arrangements for the Nepalis to stay in New Delhi for a few days as borders between the two countries have been closed and India has announced shutdown in various districts to control the spread of the virus.

The Nepal government on Sunday announced border closure with both India and China for a week.

Published on: 23 March 2020 | The Kathmandu Post