AMN
India has assured all possible assisstance to the quake hit Nepal. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar today arrived Kathmandu and called on Prime Minister Sushil Koirala to discuss the rescue and relief operations in the areas affected by the earthquake.
Doval, who also took an aerial survey of the worst affected Gorkha district, said, India stands steadfastly with Nepal and will give all the help possible to the quake hit country. Soon after the quake, India rushed 16 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams to Nepal each with 45 personnel to carry out rescue operations in different areas.
Meanwhile, aftershocks measuring 4 and 4.2 on the Richter Scale centred around Kathmandu jolted the country this morning. Aftershocks in past six days have forced people to stay in the open, battling chilly weather and rains besides post-disaster diseases and stench from the dead bodies trapped in the rubble.
According to the Home Ministry of Nepal, Relief was slowly beginning to reach remote mountainous towns and villages after efforts were earlier hampered due to heavy rains and aftershocks. According to the Ministry, over 2,50,000 buildings have been damaged in the quake, partially or completely across the nation.
Yesterday, Nepal’s Army Chief said the death toll in the quake could be as high as 15,000, a day after Prime Minister Sushil Koirala feared the figure could reach 10,000 because information from the affected remote villages is yet to come. The United Nations has said that around 8 million people have been affected in the country’s worst disaster in eight decades.