Rescue work focus on Valley, other areas await attention

KATHMANDU, April 30: As the rescue and relief operations have become centered in Kathmandu Valley, other affected districts remain in dire need of trained manpower to conduct rescue and relief operations. Figures provided by the government itself show that the deployment of security personnel and foreign rescue teams is disproportionate in comparison to the distribution of human causalities.

All foreign rescue teams, except a team from Britain, are deployed in Kathmandu Valley. A rescue team from India with 180 personnel, a Chinese team of 67, a team of 79 from Turkey, a 76-strong JICA team and a 13-member team from Sri Lanka are all deployed in Kathmandu Valley. Likewise, teams from Germany, Poland, France the Netherlands, Malaysia and Israel are also assisting rescue operations in the Valley. As of Wednesday afternoon, only the British team was outside the Valley, in Sindhupalchowk.

As per the figures provided by the home minister's secretariat on Tuesday, 4,212 Nepal Police personnel, 3,138 APF personnel and a large number from Nepal Army are deployed for rescue operations in Kathmandu district. Like-wise, 206 from the Nepal Army, 737 APF personnel and 1,355 from the police are deployed in Lalitpur. Rescue operations in Bhaktapur are being conducted by 308 army personnel, 840 APF and 1,651 police personnel. The Nepal Police have a reserve force of 1,126 to assist rescue operations in the three districts of the Valley.

In contrast, rescue operations in Rasuwa are being undertaken by a small undertaken by a small number of only 143 police personnel. In Sindhupalchwok, most affected district by human casualty, rescue operations are being conducted by 438 army personnel, 146 APF personnel and 370 from the police. In Gorkha, the epicenter of the devastating earthquake, 287 army, 752 APF and 543 police personnel are deployed. Likewise, only 184 army personnel and 30 APF and 387 police personnel are deployed in Kavrepalanchowk while 102 army personnel, 131 APF and 304 police personnel are deployed in Dhading. Meanwhile, only 159 army personnel, 46 APF and 210 police personnel are deployed in Nuwakot.

Sindhupalchowk, Nuwakot, Gorkha, Dhading, Rasuwa and Kavre are the most affected districts alongside Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

The death toll reached 5,027 and the number of injured 7,482 by Wednesday evening.

According to Nepal Police, 1,376 people died in Sindhupalchowk and 1,034 in Kathmandu. Likewise, 638 died in Nuwakot, 405 in Gorkha, 373 in Dhading, 302 in Rasuwa, 273 in Kavrepalanchowk, 256 in Bhaktapur and 169 in Lalitpur. Similarly, the death toll reached 54 in Dolakha, 34 in Makawanpur, 24 in Ramechhap, 22 in Solukhumbu and 17 in Okhaldhunga.

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