EMN
Dimapur, May 5
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s a part of relief operations for people affected by the catastrophic earthquake in Nepal and adjoining areas of India, the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) has informed the public that the Government of India, Ministry of Railways is providing free transportation of relief materials by coach trains to Raxaul in Bihar till May 14.
The NSDMA is under the Home department of the government of Nagaland. The government issued a circular on Tuesday, May 5, informing of the transportation arrangement.
The agency reminded the public that the Government of Nepal has specifically requested for items such as tents, tarpaulins and blankets as they are needed on priority.Any government organizations, government-aided agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals wishing to contribute in kind towards the same may contact the following officers.
Deputy Commandant of the National Disaster Response Force, NP Singh, at 08017166640 (for coordinating transport of relief materials to Nepal from Jalpaiguri)
Parmeshwar Prasad Basphor, head commercial clerk of Dimapur Parcel Officer of Dimapur station, Northeast Frontier Railways, at 9436260535 (for transmission of relief materials from Dimapur to Raxaul in Bihar, by train)
L Jonjibemo Odyuo, coordinator for Relief of the NSDMA, Home department at 8575510354, or
Rendemo Shitio, coordinator for Response of the NSDMA, Home department at 9402489435.
As on Tuesday, May 5, Reports say that the death toll in Nepal has climbed to more than 7, 500. The death-toll is said to be still rising as Nepal grapples with its worst catastrophe in more than 80 years.
In Kathmandu, authorities say up to one-third of the city’s residents have left since the quake. In the first days, bus stations were jammed with people fearing aftershocks or trying to get home to relatives in devastated villages.
Authorities do not know how many of those people have returned to the capital, but on Tuesday there were still people waiting for buses to leave.
“I stayed back here to help out my neighbors and clean up the neighborhood,” said Surya Singh, who was at a large bus station. But now he wants to see the damage in his home village — though with many roads still blocked by landslides he was unsure if he could get all the way by bus.
Rescuers were digging Tuesday through thousands of tonnes of earth from a quake-triggered mudslide in Nepal that wiped out an entire village along a popular Himalayan trekking route and killed at least 60 people.
Nine of the victims recovered in the Langtang Valley since the April 25 earthquake and mudslide were foreign trekkers, said Gautam Rimal, the top government official in the Rasuwa district. Villagers say as many as 200 people could have been killed.
(Inputs from CBC news)
Red Cross donates to Nepal relief
The Nagaland branch of the Indian Red Cross Society has donated a sum of one lakh as a token of assistance to the people of Nepal affected by the April earthquake that has left thousands of people either dead or injured.
“While expressing solidarity to the quake-hit country, the Indian Red Cross Society, Nagaland state branch extended a sum of Rs. 1,00,000.00 to Nepal Red Cross Society as a token of assistance for the earthquake victims,” the organization stated in a message received here on Tuesday.
The Indian Red Cross Society said it was “shocked to learn that Nepal has been hit by a high magnitude earthquake” which led to the loss of thousands of lives. The organization prays that the Almighty God would grant solace and strength to the people at this time of grief and misery.
The organization also prays for speedy recovery of those injured.
“It is heartening to note that many individuals, organizations, countries etc are working and providing selfless services to minimize the sufferings of the affected victims through different ways and means,” the message added.
