Seldom does news from Nepal make headlines abroad. But Saturday’s devastating earthquake, and the heart-rending images that have emerged in its wake, seems to have touched the entire world. Nepalis living in the US are getting minute-by-minute updates of the trail of destruction in their homeland from mainstream American TV news channels. The British press, similarly, is inundated by sad tidings from Nepal. Closer home, hundreds of Indian correspondents have descended in the capital to cover the national tragedy that has so far claimed 4,500 lives and injured at least 7,000. The growing global interest in Nepal is also reflected in the steady stream of relief material and emergency workers that continue to pour in. As we write this, medical and rescue teams from India, China, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Poland and Pakistan, among others, are working with government agencies to help those in need. And yet, something is amiss. Relief and rescue efforts are concentrated in the three districts of Kathmandu valley; earthquake victims in other badly affected districts like Sindhupalchowk, Kavrepalanchowk and Gorkha have received little help.
India supplies earthquake relief material to Govt of Nepal
“Not a single government official has come to our village since [Saturday’s] earthquake,” rued Purna Bahadur Gharti of Karki Gaun, Banepa, Kavre on Monday. This was a common complaint heard in all quake-affected regions. The local government chapters express their helplessness at their inability to procure timely medical and relief material from the center. The government must come clean on this at the earliest. It could also do more to better inform the panicky public. Rumors continue to circulate that another big earthquake will hit the country in the next few days. People must be reassured that earthquakes cannot be predicted so easily and setting timeframes is pure guesswork. This is important. A reassured public will also be more willing to contribute to rescue and relief. Another important step would be to stop the massive outflow of people from Kathmandu Valley. Many are leaving because their loved ones are in peril. But others simply want to escape the ‘danger zone’, not realizing that the East-West Highway, flanked by rocky formations that have been badly disturbed by recent earthquakes, is more unsafe.
But the focus must be immediate relief to earthquake victims. The government claims to have dispatched enough material to affected regions. But most of it is stuck at district headquarters. In Gorkha, for instance, the tents and medicines meant for earthquake victims are stranded at Gorkha bazaar. This is a little strange, for all three of our major political parties—Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist)—have extensive networks in nearly every district in the country. With some initiative from the government, their local cadres could easily be mobilized in relief and rescue. There is not a moment to waste. A day or two can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of starving victims, their hunger accentuated by absence of a roof over their head. As bad as things are, news from Nepal is likely to get worse as more bodies are unearthed and the final economic costs calculated. Thousands of earthquake victims, meanwhile, are hanging by a thread.
