Published on: 27 Apr 2015 @ 23:22
5,400 Indians have been brought back
AMN
Indian Rescue workers today stepped up efforts to locate survivors trapped under tonnes of rubble of flattened homes and buildings in earthquake-hit Nepal. Rescue teams are reaching remote mountainous areas. Multi-national rescue teams with sniffer dogs and advanced equipment are desperately trying to locate survivors as hundreds of people are still missing. More than 700 disaster relief experts drawn from the National Disaster Relief Force have been deployed by India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high level meeting in New Delhi to review the relief and rescue operations in the areas affected by earthquake. The meeting was attended by senior Ministers and top government officials among others.
Nearly 5,400 Indians have been brought back so far from earthquake hit Nepal. Briefing media in New Delhi this evening, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar hoped that 1600 Indians will be brought back soon. He said, India is also receiving requests from other countries and 30 foreign nationals have been rescued so far.
National Disaster Management Authority has also launched a national helpline 011-1078 to help affected people due to the natural calamity. A number 8527892258 and email–ritanu@yahoo.com have also been released for the NGOs which wants to send relief material to Nepal.
Mr Jaishankar said, 21 more trucks with essential supplies and a medical team of 47 people have also been sent to Nepal.He said, power grid team which will help in restoration of power in Katmandu have reached there. He said it has also been decided to send more National Disaster response Force teams. Home Secretary L C Goyal said, the NDRF team have saved 180 people in Darbhanga in Bihar.
Defence Secretary R K Mathur said, Indian Air Force is prepared to work round the clock to extend maximum possible help.
In another development, Health Ministry is sending a team of experts drawn from AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital and Public Health institutions to Nepal to assess the situation arising out of large scale morbidity and mortality following the earthquake. An official release said, the team will interact with the health authorities and assess requirements for human resources and logistic deployment. A team of senior officers has already been deputed to interact with the health authorities in the States affected by the quake.
