Thousands of Nepali migrant labourers have started returning to their homes through the border bridges on Kali river fearing another lockdown and sealing of the bridges due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.
"If the border bridges get sealed again, we will have to face grave problems of food before us, therefore we have decided to return to our homes in Nepal," said Dammer Bahadur who left along with his family for his village in Nepal through the Jhoola Ghat bridge on Kali river on Thursday.
Thousands of Nepali migrants got stuck in Pithoragarh district last year when a lockdown was imposed on March 22 leading to the closure of the border bridges.
"We do not want to face the same situation again this time going without food or shelter for weeks in the absence of a job," said Nain Singh, another home-bound migrant labourer from Nepal.
Coronavirus cases are continuously increasing in Pithoragarh, Almora and Champawat districts as in other districts of Uttarakhand which recorded its highest single-day surge in virus cases on Wednesday with 4,807 people testing positive.
