KATHMANDU, May 6: At midday on Tuesday, Durga Bahadur Puri, sweltering and covered with dust, was busy clearing the rubble of his building that collapsed in the April 25 earthquake.
As he was talking about the damages caused by the earthquake in his neighborhood, he abruptly stopped conversation and pointed to an army truck that just passed by. "See, this is how the trucks and vans carry foodstuffs, tents and other relief materials. But we are mere onlookers as we get nothing," Puri told Republica.
Just five kilometers northwest of Kalanki, locals are not only infuriated with the authorities but also feel discriminated against by the state as many people on the outskirts have not received relief materials even 10 days after the disaster.
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Locals said scores of vehicles pass by every day carrying relief materials to other parts of Nagarjun Municipality and some parts of Dhading district through the same route. "We feel as if we are living in the remotest part of this country," Puri said. Even the locals who lost their family members have not received proper relief.
Tej Bahadur Manandhar of Dandapauwa, Ramkot lost his wife in the quake. "The government announced Rs 40,000 for the funeral rites of each deceased but officials gave me only Rs 5,000," complained Manandhar.
Anyone who passes through Sitapaila Chowk to Ramkot area can see only collapsed buildings on either side of the road. Some buildings can be seen standing alone amid the rubble.
Locals said most of the buildings in the area are uninhabitable.
Bhuwan Giri, secretary at the municipality office in Ramkot, estimates that around 90 percent of the buildings there have been badly damaged in the earthquake.
He informed that at least 21 people were killed in 7, 8 and 9 wards of the municipality. Of them, 13 are female and eight are male, while 59 others received serious injuries.
In the area, 1,298 buildings were destroyed while 695 suffered partial damage.
At Phasku, Ramkot, a crowd was seen looking at the debris of a five-storey building that collapsed on that fateful day. In lack of essential goods, victims were desperately trying to recover their belongings.
Manoj Pandey, who rented a room in the same building, was struggling to pass through a small opening in the rubble to recover his belongings.
Most of the locals said the quake robbed them of everything. "We need tents and tarpaulins more than anything else," said Saili Bal of Tallo Taukhel. She said tents are necessary to protect octogenarians, nursing mothers and infants from cold.
Giri said around 900 tents are required for 7, 8 and 9 wards alone while they have so far distributed only 200 pieces.
Photos by: Ashok Dahal/Republica
