WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 64 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 35.9 C 2.0 C Friday, April 23, 2021 | 10-01-2078 Nepalgunj Jumla When governance took a backseat, second wave took hold At border points, authorities are failing to conduct tests and quarantine people, just as health facilities are on the verge of buckling under the caseload. ARJUN POUDEL virus breeding grounds. KATHMANDU, APRIL 22 Mishra, the information officer, said that the rural municipality On Thursday, Hindustan Times, Number of cases since October 21, when Nepal has converted three schools into one of India’s leading English recorded the highest daily count quarantine centres, which can papers, came out with a screaming accommodate at least 75 people headline: WORLD’S WORST but no one has been quarantined OUTBREAK. The country’s tally as of Thursday. of 314,835 Covid-19 cases on According to Bishnu Giri, a Wednesday was the highest ever sub-inspector in charge of the daily total recorded by any country. Jamunaha Police Post in India is scrambling to battle Nepalgunj, 10,000 people have the second wave of the coronavi- entered from India through the bor- rus and its health system has col- der point in the last two days alone. lapsed, media reported. “The number of people going to That comes as a warning call for India through this border point is Nepal. also the same. Most go to India for Nepal and India share an medical treatment,” said Giri. around 1,800-kilometre-long But there’s no holding centre at porous border and thousands of Jamunaha border point. people cross into each other’s ter- “Only 10 security personnel ritories almost every day. The have been deployed to manage the health desks that were set up at flow of returnees,” said Giri. Out various border points have been of the total 259 antigen tests con- revived, but there are concerns if ducted at the border point since they are functioning in order. March 24, 34 were positive. Narainapur Rural Municipality Those returning to various dis- in Nepalgunj of Banke borders the tricts say mismanagement at the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. border point has made their jour- There are three points along the ney home difficult. border—Suiya, Ghoddauriya and “We have had a narrow escape. Hulashpurwa. The local govern- The situation in India is dire ment has set up health desks at SOURCE: MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND POPULATION so we decided to return,” said these points and supplied antigen As of Thursday, 292,152 infections and 3,117 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the country since the pandemic began. Kabiraj Soni, who was spotted at test kits to perform coronavirus Jamunaha border while returning tests. Apart from these, people also India from returning home and to swell in Nepal around three According to a Health Ministry ic and become the second worst- from India. “The mismanagement use Jamunaha to cross over. the number of people is so mas- weeks after India encountered the projection, by July 15 , the coun- hit state in India. at the border has put us at a bigger However, no test is being per- sive that conducting tests on stark reality of the second wave of try’s coronavirus tally could reach “We have been repeating the risk of being exposed to Covid-19. formed at the health desks, as everyone is a Herculean task. virus taking hold in society. 600,000 and the new variant of the same mistake that we committed We wish our district administra- health workers have been asked to “It is not possible to carry out The daily count on Thursday hit virus could increase new cases in the past,” Dr Keshav Deuba, a tion had made arrangements for perform tests only on those who antigen tests on all, as hundreds of 2,365, with five deaths. more than the estimation. public health epidemiologist, told returnees like us to reach our have symptoms, according to offi- people cross through the bordering Intensive care unit beds are Doctors say performing tests on the Post. “Do authorities still need home districts safely.” cials stationed there. Nepali districts every day,” Laxmi Kanta filling up. Hospitals are now gasp- people returning from disease-hit advice on what should be done and The local administration in migrant workers returning from Mishra, an information officer at ing for oxygen, as a majority of areas is the first step towards con- what should not.” Banke has enforced a lockdown in Maharashtra and Delhi, among the rural municipality, told the hospitals do not have their own taining a possible outbreak. Narainapur is the same rural Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City, other Indian states, which have Post over the phone from Banke. oxygen plants and at a few hospi- However, authorities did not con- municipality that was worst which abuts Narainapur, from reported a high number of cases, “As authorities in India have tals which have, the plants are not sider it necessary to perform tests affected by the first wave of coro- Thursday, following a spike in new use the Jamunaha border point to stopped train services, migrant in operation. The data provided by on those returning from Uttar navirus outbreak last year, when cases and the health facilities in enter Nepal. workers are not coming these days the Health Ministry shows that Pradesh, the most populous state even the infected people fled from the district becoming over- Officials say it’s impossible to from Maharashtra and Delhi.” most of the hospitals lack ready in India which has been hit hard quarantine facilities and the facil- whelmed. completely stop Nepalis living in New coronavirus cases started oxygen supply. by the second wave of the pandem- ities themselves had turned into >> Continued on page 2 POST PHOTO: ANISH REGMI A crowded Ason-Indrachowk street in Kathmandu on Thursday. Even as coronavirus cases spiral and the government has advised the public to avoid unessential trips, people seem to be paying little heed to Covid-19 safety protocol. Billions spent on Dharahara but school reconstruction suffering in lack of funds Reconstruction of college buildings damaged in the 2015 earthquakes is yet to begin as the government only recently decided to take Indian loan despite stringent conditions. BINOD GHIMIRE first in priority for reconstruction fol- struction of academic institutions, KATHMANDU, APRIL 22 lowed by the public infrastructures show 9,072 schools from 31 districts, and heritage sites. suffered damage in the earthquake. The Post Disaster Recovery However, it has been five years since However, just 6,246 schools have been Framework prepared in May 2016 for the framework came into effect, two fully rebuilt while another 1,307 are the systematised and structured years since the deadline passed, and under construction. reconstruction of the 2015 earth- thousands of classrooms from the As many as 1,519 schools have been quakes ravaged structures envisioned hundreds of schools damaged in the altogether left out from the reconstruc- completing the reconstruction of earthquakes still await reconstruction tion citing lack of budget. Of these, schools in three years. for lack of adequate budget. however, only 882 need reconstruction It had kept the individual homes, “Lack of adequate budget and delay as the rest will be closed soon and hospitals and academic institutions in the release of needed budget is a merged with another because they major challenge in attaining have low enrolment of students. the set goals,” Yadu Bikram “It is a challenge to arrange the Thapa, an officer at the educa- budget for the 5,973 classrooms from tion unit, said. 882 schools that need reconstruction,” Around 9,000 people were said Thapa. killed while property worth bil- Some Rs6.1 billion will be needed to lions of rupees turned to rubble complete the reconstruction of all the in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake schools. that struck on April 25, 2015. Meanwhile, a whopping Rs3.47 bil- Records at the Central Level lion has been spent on rebuilding Project Implementation Unit Dharahara which is being inaugurat- (Education) under the National ed on Saturday, on the eve of the sixth Reconstruction Authority, which anniversary of the great earthquake. is mandated to oversee the recon- >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL Siddhartha Highway Authorities scramble to manage hospitals in dilapidated state as Covid-19 cases surge in Karnali Province MADHAV ARYAL bus driver. PALPA, APRIL 22 According to the Division Road Office in Palpa, road sections at Health officials say the current health infrastructure of the province will be overwhelmed if the caseload keeps increasing. Travelling along the Dobhan- Kadambas, Siddhababa, Damsite, Chidiyakhola section of the Paithedanda, Bhutkhola, Jhumsa, CHANDANI KATHAYAT Siddhartha Highway has been Panimil and Chaubismile, among BIRENDRANAGAR, APRIL 22 made difficult due to the poor road other areas, were damaged during last condition. year’s monsoon. One hundred and four individuals Visibility along the 5km road sec- In August last year, the Division tested positive for Covid-19 in the last tion is low due to dust clouds kicked Road Office had awarded the contract 24 hours in Karnali Province, accord- up by passing vehicles. There are also to Prakriti-Dhulikhel JV for the repair ing to the data of the Provincial several potholes and slippages along of the road section between Dovan to Health Directorate. the section, making travel difficult for Chidiyakhola. On Wednesday, out of 88 swab sam- drivers and pedestrians alike. “But the contractor has not started ples collected by Surkhet-based public “We have been travelling along the any work yet,” Adhikari, the division health laboratory, 86 tested positive for dusty road for months,” said Yadav road officer.