By Tikaram Upreti
Jhapa, Aug. 4: The season of visiting the religious and tourism sites in Jhapa was affected after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown since March 24.
While the religious and tourism destinations were closed, people’s movement was restricted. But with the relaxation of lockdown in the recent days, local tourists have started visiting the religious and tourism destinations of the district. Jhapa constitutes religious, tourism and recreational sites such as Domukha, Satasidham, Jamunkhadi and Happy Land Fun Park.
The door of the religious and tourism destination Domukha has opened officially since the recent week and the number of worshippers has begun to increase at Satasidham.
“The door to Domukha has been opened but we will not let the place be crowded as the crowd increases the risk of transmission,” said Dhan Prasad Limbu, chairman at Domukha Religious and Tourism Management Committee.
During their closure amidst lockdown, the tourism and religious destinations utilised the time to improve their infrastructures and beautify the places.
“We added tiles, maintained the drainage system and constructed some buildings during the lockdown. Worshippers have started to come in small numbers after months of shutdown,” said Prasad Subba, chairman of Shivasatakshi Area Development Committee.
Similarly, tourism and recreation sites such as Jamunkhadi and Happy Land Fun Park are also preparing to open their gates for the local tourists.
“We will await and analyse the situation of COVID-19 transmission at the community level and neighbouring areas until mid-August. We will then decide whether to open the place for tourists or not,” said Khem Raj Sitoula, chairman of Jamunkhadi’s management committee. The lockdown had also affected the hotel business established nearby the tourism and religious sites. They still await for the situation to turn normal to open their businesses.

“The hotel was closed for months. Even when the government decided to end the lockdown, the situation is not favourable to start accepting enough people in the hotel,” said Bhim Bahadur Magar, proprietor at Siddhartha Hotel in Jamunkhadi area.