A controversy has erupted in Nepal over rescue operations and handling of aid for earthquake victims. Nepal government and some international agencies are blaming each other over the handling of aid that poured into the Himalayan nation for earthquake victims. Each side has blamed the other for confusion and delays in getting help.
Relief material initially piled up at the airport as Nepalese customs officials checked each crate that came in so that commercial goods do not slip through. Senior government officials said customs checks were necessary, because they do not know what is coming into the country.
They said that supplies included goods that Nepal do not need and many relief workers arrived without proper documents to enter the country, complicating efforts to move the aid effort along. It is said that frustrated by delays and a lack of coordination, some donors are circumventing the government and sending aid directly through non-governmental organisations for distribution.
Meanwhile, relief operations in all affected districts are underway on full swing. Indian Air Force has brought 520 tonnes of relief materials containing tents, blankets, medicines, cook houses, food and water for earthquake victims. An official spokesperson said in Kathmandu that Uttar Pradesh and Bihar governments and different NGOs have also provided 4,500 tonnes of relief materials in 450 trucks.
Separately 18 trucks containing 100 tonnes of food and relief material and an ambulance with 5,000 blood testing kits received from the government of Uttar Pradesh has also been handed over to the officials at Kathmandu.
An official in Kathmandu has said that IAF helicopters operating from Kathmandu and Pokhara, carried more than 207 tonnes of relief material in 449 sorties, evacuated over 900 injured and transported over 1,700 stranded people of various nationalities.
Apart from that, the Nepal`s Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) has requested the government to extend climbing permits issued for 2015 till next year as no expedition could be held on Mount Everest this year following an avalanche triggered by the 25 earthquake.
The SPCC has also advised the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and concerned stakeholders not to take further risks by continuing work on the mountain. The committee has made the recommendation following a study on situation at the Everest Base Camp and Khumbu Icefall, which collapsed by an avalanche following the devastating earthquake.