One month on, Nepal grapples with quake aftermath

Nepal on Monday marked one month since the most devastating quake hit the country, killing nearly 9,000 people and injuring thousands more, as survivors in large numbers gathered at the rubble of the iconic Dharhara tower in a grim reminder of the temblor.

The national anthem was played on loudspeakers following which people surrounded the rubble of the much-loved tower and observed 56 seconds of silence at <g data-gr-id="26">11:56,</g> when the 7.9- magnitude quake struck on April 25.

Dharhara was among a number of heritage jewels Nepal was robbed off due to the quake that also flattened over 2 lakh buildings and triggered as many as 265 aftershocks, with tremors felt even on Monday.

Two tremors measuring 5 and 4.1 on the Richter Scale, with epicentres at Gorkha and Dolakhan, were felt as <g data-gr-id="32">Nepal</g> government faces a mammoth task of piecing together lives of the affected people.

The international community that promptly sent disaster response aid to the Himalayan nation has not come forward as kindly in terms of emergency funds despite appeals from the United Nations that has merely received a fifth of $423 it was seeking.

Less than 10 <g data-gr-id="28">per cent</g> of the money spent on relief by his government came from overseas, Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat told BBC as he called for more direct aid funding.

His comments came as Nepal’s government faces growing criticism over its handling of the crisis that has affected as many as eight million people, a third of its population.

Nearly three million people are still living in the open due to two major earthquakes that hit the country in less than a month besides a series of aftershocks.

Relief and rehabilitation <g data-gr-id="29">remains</g> the primary agenda of the government at the moment that is yet to reach many remote areas, with monsoon less than two weeks away.

In some silver lining, the World Food Programme (WEP) said it plans to open up land and air routes for more aid to far-flung mountainous villages demolished by the quake.

“To open up some of the overland routes is gonna be incredibly difficult, it’s gonna be incredibly dangerous and it’s gonna be incredibly expensive,” WFP’s emergency coordinator Richard Ragan told reporters.