Sandwiched between India and China, the people of Nepal are traumatised following another earthquake of 7.3 magnitude that hit Nepal on May 12. This is the second time in three weeks that hit Nepal. The quake that killed more than 8,000 Nepalese nearly three weeks back has struck the hardest at the foothills of the Himalayas and triggered landslides blocking roads to remote villages in several districts.
The epicentre of the earthquake was located 47 miles off Katmandu. Sixty-five people were reportedly dead and around 2,000 injured following the earthquake this time in Dolakha district located on the north east of the Nepalese capital. At least two houses collapsed at Namche Bazaar, 50 kilometres from Katmandu. According to news by wire services, the reverberations were felt hundreds of miles away from the epicentre. At least 17 people were reported dead in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India and one person in Tibet, China.
Frightened residents in Katmandu who had returned to their homes a couple of days back, have to set up makeshift arrangement by hoisting tents on the roadsides. The police have been patrolling the area and supplying food and water to the people who took shelter in the tents. According to a BBC reporter from Nepal, this time the quake lasted longer.
This being the situation, hundreds of thousands of people in rural areas are still without shelter and food. A UN representative Rownak Khan is reported to have said, "The earthquake has caused unimaginable destruction. Hospitals are overflowing, water is scarce, bodies are still buried under the rubble, and people are still sleeping in the open." The UN has appealed for donation worth $41.5 million.
Relief operations in Nepal by foreign countries, however, are continuing despite hazards. Urban search and rescue teams from the Fairfax county of Virginia, where this writer lives, and Los Angeles county fire department are working in Nepal as part of response by the US Agency for International Development.
Apart from the American and the British Red Cross, a number of relief agencies are working in Nepal including Islamic relief which is providing hygiene kits, kitchen sets and purified waters.
Earthquake, floods, cyclones and tornadoes are natural disasters. Therefore, all rich countries of the world, including the petro-dollar countries should assemble in the United Nations and pledge to protect the affected people of natural disasters. For this, a natural disaster fund should be created at the UN.
The writer is a retired diplomat from Bangladesh.
