New Delhi:
A second shipment of nine tons of emergency aid supplies from India arrived in Nepal on Monday for earthquake-hit families in the northwestern mountain region, where people are facing shortages of food, warm clothes and medicine as another earthquake hit the region.
Nepal was rocked by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake just before midnight on Friday, killing 153 people and injuring more than 250 others.
The earthquake, which struck Jajarkot and Rukum West districts in western Nepal, also damaged about 8,000 houses, both public and private, according to officials.
India has become the first country to send relief materials to earthquake-hit districts in Nepal.
“India’s support to Nepal remains strong and steadfast in this difficult hour,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in a message on
Second flight with 9 tons of emergency aid on board lands in Nepal.
India’s support to Nepal remains strong and steadfast in this difficult hour. pic.twitter.com/d6F9fa3HUq
—Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) November 6, 2023
Deputy Chief of Indian Mission Prasanna Shrivastava handed over the second consignment of relief materials to Chief District Officer of Banke Shravan Kumar Pokhrel.
The second consignment of nine tonnes of relief material was transported to Nepalgunj by a special Indian Air Force C-130 and included essential medical and hygiene supplies, tents, sleeping bags and blankets.
The first consignment of over 11 tonnes of relief materials supplied by India, including tents, tarpaulins, blankets and sleeping bags, along with essential medicines and medical equipment, was handed over to Nepal on Sunday.
“India remains steadfast in providing all possible support to the government of Nepal in the aftermath of the Jajarkot earthquake,” the Indian embassy said in a statement.
Pokharel said the relief materials were sent from Nepalgunj Airport to the disaster-hit areas and were escorted by Nepal Armed Police personnel. He said one truckload of relief materials is for Jajarkot and the other one for Rukum West relief materials will be handed over to the chief district officers of the respective districts.
The relief materials include 625 units of plastic tarpaulin and tents, 1,000 units of sleeping bags, 1,000 blankets, 70 large tents, 35 packs of tent accessories, medicines and 48 other items, officials said.
Meanwhile, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck Jajarkot and surrounding areas at 4:31 pm (local time), according to the National Seismological Center.
The epicenter of the earthquake was in Ramidanda of Jajarkot, the report said. This was followed by another magnitude 4.5 earthquake at 4:40 p.m., another official said.
The survivors of the disaster cremated their deceased relatives on Sunday. Due to the difficult terrain, aid materials have yet to reach several areas.
According to Suresh BK, a resident of Chiuritol, 13 people were killed in the village while several others were injured in the earthquake.
At least 56 houses in the village were completely destroyed, while 110 houses, though still standing, have become habitable, Suresh said.
The villagers have been waiting for help. “But so far we have not received anything. All our crops, grains, food, clothing and other valuables are buried in the rubble. We have not been able to recover anything because there are no security personnel to help us.” The Kathmandu Post newspaper quoted Suresh as saying.
“It’s unbearably cold outside and none of us have slept since Friday night.” Bheri Municipality Mayor Chandra Prakash Gharti said the local unit is collecting data to streamline relief distribution, which has caused delays in promptly sending relief materials to affected villages.
The earthquake victims need immediate help and blame the government for the delayed response even during emergencies.
Kalawati Singh, a local survivor in Chiuritol, said the villagers started falling ill after two nights in the cold.
“Older people and young children are getting sick. We have no warm clothes and spend our days and nights in the open field,” Singh said. “There are no doctors or medical help here. We have food for up to two days. We hope more help will arrive soon.” Karna Bahadur BK, a resident of Aathbiskot Municipality who lost his 27-year-old cousin on Friday evening, said it is becoming more difficult every day to manage tarpaulins, blankets and food for the surviving members of the family.
“I finally managed to find a tarpaulin tent for my family. Resources are limited here and people are struggling,” says Karna. “No help has arrived. People are starving, getting sick and fighting for food. The health of children and the elderly is poor, but help is far from close.” On Monday, authorities revised the death toll from the earthquake to 153 from 157, citing duplicate names.
Friday’s earthquake caused the greatest losses of people and infrastructure since the devastating shock of April 2015.
According to the 2015 Post Disaster Needs Assessment Report, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake damaged nearly 800,000 homes and killed nearly 9,000 people.
“According to the initial estimate, around 3,000 houses have been completely damaged, while another 5,000 have suffered partial damage,” said Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesperson for the Ministry of Home Affairs. “The final number of damaged houses is yet to be determined.” Preventing possible outbreaks of communicable diseases in the coming days will be a challenge as people are forced to live in the open amid increasing cold, said Krishna Bahadur Khatri, information officer at Jajarkot health agency.
“An outbreak of communicable diseases – cold-related illnesses and water-borne diseases – is likely in the coming days due to falling temperatures and damaged infrastructure.” In addition to houses, toilets were also destroyed during the earthquake. Officials say the destruction of toilets increases open-air defecation, which poses the risk of contaminating water sources. The risk of vector-borne diseases – including malaria, dengue, kala-Azar and scrub typhus – is also increasing, experts say.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)