LOGIN DASHBOARD

    Photo Essays

    4 MIN READ

    A city of disquiet

    The Record, March 31, 2020, Kathmandu

    A city of disquiet

      Share this article

    Kathmandu, our eternally bustling capital, has been lulled into sleep by the forbidding coronavirus

    (The Record Nepal)

    For long, Kathmandu has been suffocating beneath the weight of its own identity as an urban centre. As the city has sprawled beyond Ring Road in the new millennium, devouring vast agricultural landscapes and eating away into forest land farther out, its population has boomed. Cars, motorbikes, throngs of people crowding markets and malls, all have increased, swelling the city beyond its capacity to hold.

    But the changes triggered by the lockdown in the past week have been so sudden and drastic, to look out one’s window and witness the calm that has engulfed Kathmandu can be described as jarring in the least. Schools and offices are shut. Factories have closed down. Coronavirus has drawn productivity to a halt. Empty roads now serve as meandering memories of what travel and movement used to be.

    The city, nevertheless, putters along, thanks to the few who continue to risk their lives to make basic needs available to its denizens.

    Much of life in Kathmandu has come to a standstill ever since the government’s decision for a nationwide lockdown that took effect on 24 March, 2020. In Bagbazar, a street otherwise crowded with cars, pedestrians and hawkers alike, a man walks below garbled electric wires that suddenly appear more prominent.

    A woman in Bhaktapur continues to sell fresh produce out in the open, although the number of street vendors has sharply reduced. Even as she protects herself with a reusable mask, she is nevertheless at greater risk of being exposed to the virus as she encounters numerous customers.

    A sweeping view of a vegetable market near Machhapokhari in the early hours of the morning. While many have stockpiled groceries and other essential items to last a while, people are still making regular rounds of vegetable markets despite the lockdown.

    An employee of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office sprays disinfectants at Singha Durbar. Although this trend has been seen in cities across the world as a way to combat the coronavirus pandemic, there is little proof about its effectiveness. 

    While there hasn’t been a shortage of basic supplies in the Kathmandu Valley so far, gas cylinders have nevertheless been hard to come by. The capital has had a prolonged history of gas shortage time and again.

    A fruit and vegetable vendor squirts hand sanitizer into the palms of their customer. News and public service announcements encouraging people to wash their hands, wear masks and use sanitizers in order to stop the spread of the virus have proliferated traditional and social media in the last two weeks.

    Over the course of the lockdown, now in its eighth day, the Nepal Armed Police Force has deployed an increasing number of its personnel on the streets of Kathmandu. At the entrance of its headquarters in Halchowk, officials have been delegated specifically for the task of disinfecting incoming individuals and vehicles.

    Thanks to the efforts made by the Valley’s metropolitan offices, garbage is still being collected throughout the city.

    A policeman uses a six-foot metal clamp to detain an individual who violated the lockdown restrictions that urge everyone to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. The Nepal Police is facing flack for harassing people who have been seen out on the streets.

    Due to the existence of wide economic disparities, people living in the bottom rung of society face incomparable corona-related hardships. A homeless man passed out atop an overhead bridge in Koteshwor will be one of the many homeless and poor to be affected by the pandemic.

    Even though children have largely been unfazed by the virus itself, the lockdown has significantly altered their lives. Schools are shut and regular play is no longer possible. Here, a lone child rides a bicycle on a decidedly empty street in Patan.

    :::::::



    author bio photo

    The Record  We are an independent digital publication based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Our stories examine politics, the economy, society, and culture. We look into events both current and past, offering depth, analysis, and perspective. Explore our features, explainers, long reads, multimedia stories, and podcasts. There’s something here for everyone.



    Comments

    Get the best of

    the Record

    Previous Next

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Opinions

    7 min read

    A looming crisis in farming

    Jagannath Adhikari - September 23, 2020

    Dependence on imported chemical fertilisers has made Nepal’s farmers vulnerable on more than one front

    COVID19

    News

    3 min read

    Covid19 Roundup, 20 May: Infections rise to 427 but reports of death untrue

    The Record - May 20, 2020

    A daily summary of Covid19-related developments that matter

    Perspectives

    7 min read

    Why the Gurkhas are once again staging a hunger strike in the heart of London

    Tim I Gurung - July 30, 2021

    The current protest is aimed at securing equal pensions for those who retired in the period between the end of the Second World War and 1994.

    COVID19

    Features

    5 min read

    Death toll hits a record high even as more frontliners quit

    The Record - November 4, 2020

    Unless the government treats health workers better, soon there won’t be any of them available to tackled the deepening Covid-19 crisis

    Week in Politics

    6 min read

    MP wants an end to Chhaugoth demolition drive, FNJ says no to exams for journalists, Supreme Court refuses to issue stay order on Speaker appointment

    The Record - February 3, 2020

    The week in politics: what happened, what does it mean, why does it matter?

    Perspectives

    8 min read

    How India saved the Oli government

    Roshan Sedhai - June 17, 2020

    The ongoing border dispute, inflamed by India, has given back the reins of the country to an otherwise faltering premier

    Week in Politics

    5 min read

    Censorship online, TJ issues, aid problems, threats

    The Record - January 20, 2020

    The week in politics: what happened, what does it mean, why does it matter?

    The Wire

    Features

    6 min read

    Press Council colludes with the government to subvert free press

    The Record - October 17, 2018

    Several incidents show that journalists are not free to do their work

    • About
    • Contributors
    • Jobs
    • Contact

    CONNECT WITH US

    © Copyright the Record | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy