Earth slowly settling down, grief overflows in Nepal

Crisis loomed over quake-hit Nepal on Monday following shortage of food, water, electricity and medicines as fear drove tens of thousands of people out into the open and the death toll soared to 4,000 amidst fears that it could touch 5,000.

Scrambling to put together massive rescue and relief efforts, the country hit by the worst quake in 80 years, desperately sought international help to tide over the situation.

Rain and a powerful aftershock on Sunday night sent a fresh wave of panic, after the Saturday’s 7.9-magnitude quake had flattened thousands of homes and buildings, leaving around 7,000 injured and scores missing.

More than 48 hours after the 7.9-magnitude temblor shook the Himalayan nation, multi-nation rescue teams, including from India, carried out relief work.

Armed with modern equipment, dumpers and earth movers and aided by sniffer dogs, disaster relief workers were trying to locate possible survivors against fading hopes. The quake that flattened homes and buildings and the subsequent powerful aftershocks forced people out to live in the open under plastic tents, barely shielding them from cold and rain that have pounded the city. Fuel and medicines were also in short supply. The picture was the same in suburbs of Kathmandu and in other rural areas. Nepal’s top bureaucrat Leela Mani Paudel said the immediate and big challenge was relief. “We urge foreign countries to give us special relief materials and medical teams. We are really desperate for more foreign expertise to pull through this crisis,” he said.

“We are appealing for tents, dry goods, blankets, mattresses, and 80 different medicines that we desperately need now,” he told a press conference.

Hundreds of people are still trapped under tonnes of rubble in capital Kathmandu and some of the worst-affected remote mountainous areas amid concerns that the toll could cross 5,000-mark, authorities said.

The toll in Nepal from the earthquake has risen to around 4,000, officials said. About 1,053 people are reportedly killed in the Kathmandu Valley alone and 875 in Sindhupalchowk. 

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Monday while apprising about the rescue and relief efforts carried out by India after the devastating earthquake in Nepal said: “ Roughly 5,400 Indians have been rescued from Nepal.”  Earlier during the day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh while making a statement in the Lok Sabha said, efforts are also on to evacuate more people by road. Immigration facilities have been set up at some places to give visa to foreigners trapped in the Himalayan nation. “Just five minutes after the earthquake, I was with the Prime Minister. He called and said there will be a meeting at 3 pm. I am happy that he knew of the incident before me and took swift action,” he said. Assuring the government’s help for everyone during the hour of crisis, Rajnath said that Modi spoke to 11 to 12 chief ministers after the quake. The toll in India has gone up to 72, with Bihar accounting for 57 deaths, Home Secretary LC Goyal said.