Nepal takes charge of post-quake ops as toll mounts to 7,557

A day after the Nepalese government asked rescue teams from India and 33 other countries to leave the Himalayan nation, over 1,31,500 Nepali military and police personnel joined aid operations in different areas.

The government said the personnel are aided by more than 100 teams of foreign relief workers in the arduous task that lies before them after the powerful April 25 temblor.

Some 11 rescue teams comprising over 500 rescue workers, including India’s National Disaster Response Force personnel, which had the largest presence in Nepal after the country faced its worst disaster in over 80 years, have left. Officials said the Nepalese army and police “would now be taking over from the foreign teams”. 

Four of India's 16 NDRF teams were on Tuesday airlifted and brought to Chandigarh, a senior NDRF officer said.

Three other teams were on their way to Patna by road from Kathmandu. The remaining 9 teams will leave in a day or two, the officer said.

“The countries have been indicated that they may exit Nepal. Today is the eleventh day after the earthquake, so the possibility of finding a survivor is slim.

So far, 11 teams comprising over 500 people have left Nepal. Teams from Canada, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Turkey, Pakistan, USA, the Netherlands, Poland, India and Turkey have left Nepal,” Jagdish Pokhrel, spokesperson for the Nepalese army said. 

He, however, added that the exercise of foreign rescue teams leaving Nepal would be in a phased manner.

“The teams will not leave at one go. For instance, some 158 NDRF personnel and 128 civilians have left the country, but the rest are still there. This has to be done in a planned manner. The respective countries are working on it,” he added.

Around 4,500 foreign rescue workers had descended on Nepal, sifting through mounds of rubble and pulling out bodies and survivors amid dozens of aftershocks.

The death toll has continuously been on the rise, with at least 7,557 people confirmed dead, including 41 Indians, while the number of injured has reached 14,536.

The Nepalese government asked the 34 countries to remove their ‘first response’ teams as the focus now shifts to relief rather than rescue.

Meanwhile, Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Tuesday visited Barpak in Gorkha district, the epicentre of the deadly quake, 11 days after the 7.9-magnitude temblor jolted the country, to take stock of the situation.

During the visit, he pointed out the need for formation of a separate ministry to deal with the aftermath of any natural disasters in the future.

Visiting Barpak and other quake-affected areas in the district, Koirala said the rehabilitation of the damaged houses and communities would begin soon after the relief distribution ends.

“Tents and foodstuffs are in much demand and the government is coordinating with neighbouring countries to deal with the post-quake situation,” Koirala said.

The Asian Development Bank and the European Union have pledged $200 million and 16.6 million euros respectively for Nepal’s post-quake rehabilitation and reconstruction works.

The ADB funds will be mobilised in new reconstruction projects to be undertaken by the Nepal government, according to Nepal’s finance ministry.

The EU has approved 16.6 million euros in financial assistance to Nepal and the amount will be made available to the government by this week, the grouping said.

A joint meeting of the EU and UN mission to Nepal also decided on Monday to make available an additional 3 million euros in emergency aid, bringing the total of the European Commission’s support to 22.6 million euros since the quake.

530 bodies cremated

Over 530 bodies of victims were cremated at the ghats of the PashupatinathTemple in Kathmandu till Monday.

"82 people were cremated here on the very day the deadly the earthquake hit us. It was a horrible sight. But, the next day, was even worse, when 152 bodies were brought in to the banks of the holy shrine here. Nine children have also have been cremated," Ritesh Kumar, an official at the temple's cremation assistance centre, told PTI.

Even nine days after the disaster, bodies are still being pulled out of the rubble of homes and buildings. Five earthquake victims were cremated last night.

Rows of lit funeral pyres on a full moon night, on the pious Bhashmeshwar Ghat, jolted memories of the fateful day.

Besides, several unidentified victims have also been cremated.