The deserted road to Birgunj, near the Indian Customs and Immigration offices at Raxaul border, on Wednesday
BETTIAH: Where traffic used to be a crawl, the road to the Nepalese metropolis of Birgunj, past the Indian Customs and Immigration offices at the Raxaul border, now lies deserted. The pandemic has taken away livelihoods. Hundreds of labourers from villages on our side who worked in factories dotting the Parsa-Bara industrial corridor in Nepal have been rendered jobless by the lockdown on both sides of the border, Mahesh Agarwal, Bihar President of the Seema Jagran Manch told TOI on Wednesday. Not only the daily wagers who trekked across the border but the other sectors of the economy, too, have been badly hit. Cross-border weddings have been hit, our roti-beti relationship with Nepal has been padlocked, Agarwal, whose grocery outlet on the border has seen an 80% fall in sales with cross-border customers locked out, rued.
1385 Sikh pilgrims return from Pakistan after celebrating Baisakhi, at the Wagah border in Amritsar on Thursday. Vishal kumar
Amritsar, April 22
Over 200 Punjab pilgrims who went to Pakistan to celebrate Baisakhi tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday. They underwent the mandatory rapid antigen test on their arrival at the Integrated Check Post, Attari. As they were all asymptomatic, they were advised home-quarantine.
Some of the pilgrims, however, confronted the health staff after their reports came positive for the infection, said Civil Surgeon Charanjit Singh.
High drama prevailed at the ICP as a few of them tore the test reports, saying that when they left for Pakistan their reports were negative.
Over 200 Sikh pilgrims test +ve on return from Pakistan tribuneindia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tribuneindia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pilgrims returning from Pakistan object to COVID-19 tests at border msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.