Ruin everywhere in Sindhupalchowk

BAHRABISE, Sindhupalchowk, May 4: The deadly earthquakes since Saturday afternoon have transformed the landscape of Bahrabise - the famous town on Araniko Highway that leads to the China border at Kodari. Houses are in utter ruin. A few are standing but these are covered with cracks and holes. They can collapse anytime. The town much celebrated in folksong has become unrecognizable.

A trade and business hub until last Friday, it is now full of debris, collapsing houses and people searching for their belongings in the ruins.""There is no Bahrabise. It looks like a ghost town"" said Madhav Basnet, a local.

Gobardhan Shrestha, a trader who lost his shop to the earthquake, is at a loss what to do next. "The shop collapsed and perhaps a cooking gas cylinder also exploded. I've lost everything"" he said, pointing at the heap of debris that used to be his shop.

It's hard to find any house that has escaped damage in Pangretar, Ramche, Maneshwara and Bahrabise VDCs. Wreckage envelopes the roadside towns starting from Lamosangu near Jure where a massive landslide killed more than 300 people last July. From Bahrabise onwards, there is massive destruction everywhere.

Nearly all school buildings in Bahrabise and surrounding villages have collapsed. The earthquake has flattened the premises of Shree Sunkoshi Secondary School in Karthali VDC. "Earthquake has destroyed almost every school building in the district. I am worried for the students," said Basu Paudyal, the head teacher of the school.

Locals are combing desparately through the ruins to salvage their belongings. The devastation is so bad it is impossible to recover anything. "My house has collapsed to the ground. I don't know if I can dig up anything useful from here," said a crestfallen Lal Bahadur Thapa.

The local police station has also suffered massive damage and has been relocated to a tent. Officials are noting down the number and names of the dead. "The situation is the same everywhere in the district," said S K Moktan, assistant sub-inspector at Area Police Office, Bahrabise. The northern town of Tatopani is out of contact since several days now. No one knows about the casualties or scale of destruction there.

"We tried to get there," says Moktan, "but we could go only up to Chaku. Huge boulders overhang between the gorges and they can fall any time. No one dares to go farther up," said Moktan. A series of landslides in the hills following the earthquakes has spread panic.