After the deadliest earthquake hit Nepal last Saturday, the event introduced the extreme extent of destruction killing more than 6250 people till the date. On the other hand the country lost its centuries old historical landmarks like ‘Dharahara’ tower and other valuable ancient temples, palaces and sites included in the world cultural heritage list of UNESCO. ‘Sagarmatha’, the tallest peak of the world also known as the Mount Everest triggered the most powerful avalanche in the history killing 22 climbers and still hundreds of them are missing.
7.8 magnitude earthquake on Saturday was just the beginning;
more than 3 dozens of aftershocks, 6.9 magnitude in particular further damaged
the country creating an utter devastation converting country’s heritage and
people home into rubble. Kathmandu, the densely populated capital of the
country has turned into graveyard with no space to burn the dead bodies and
many green, pure and untouched remote villages of Nepal have completely lost
their natural charm. About 90% of the 1,000 homes in the villages of Laprak and
Barpak near the epicentre were destroyed. Gurkha, the village from where
the unification of shattered kingdoms in Himalayas to build a greater Nepal
started, has been terribly suffered. As desperation grows among survivors in
the capital, the fate of many villages in the impoverished nation with minimal
infrastructure remains unknown.
Nepali government, Search and Rescue
This extraordinary event dragged international attention and media throughout the world covered the news with first priority. As a result pledges of money, supplies and support are flowing following the disastrous earthquake, but part of the challenge has been getting the supplies and staff into the country. International teams of rescuers and medical experts are still continuing to come in Nepal to help hunt and care for earthquake survivors but due to the poorest management of the current Nepal government and lack of coordination skill with international search and rescue team, thousands of trapped people have lost their life who could have been saved.
In several areas and villages outside Kathmandu valley like
Gurkha, Sindupalchowk, Kavrepalanchowk, Nuwakot and many more, no buildings
have been left untouched and bodies are still lying under the rubble but from
live national and international tv reporting, it’s clear that the government
has entirely failed to reach those areas and rescue them. Undoubtedly cold,
rainy and foggy weather added extra hurdles on the way making search and rescue
job critically challenging but hundreds of lives could have been saved if the
government was able to mobilize all supporting manpower outside Kathmandu valley. Many people in Bhaktapur, the city closest to Kathmandu, protested
against the government for not making adequate efforts to rescue people and
help them with basic supplies.
In the village of Sangachowk, angry villagers blocked the
main road with tyres and stopped trucks of rice and other aid headed for other
areas, as their situation was ignored. There were more angry scenes in Dolakha,
east of Kathmandu, when residents smashed the windows of a local administrative
building.
Finance minister Dr. Ramsharan Mahat said the number of dead
may pass 6,000. The nation's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said on the same day
that the figure might touch 10,000. In reality no one knows.
Arrogance of Home minister Bamdev Gautam
Arrogance of Home minister Bamdev Gautam
Just a few days before the earthquake, there were dozens of
people dying in Jajarkot with swine flu but Sushil Koirala, the weakest and the
most incompetent prime minister of Nepal flew to Indonesia. It took five days
for him to get out of his office and visit the people in relief camps on
Wednesday who greeted him with anger which made him vanish immediately from
there. The anger spilled over to the streets with people seizing food and water
supplies, four days after a devastating quake claimed over 6,000 lives.
"Some relief we are providing, but it is grossly
inadequate in relation to the need," said Mr Mahat, who estimated
rebuilding costs at more than $10 billion. "This was completely
unexpected and the scale of devastation was unimaginable."
Mahat who is known to be an intellectual economist is now
worried about the cash rather than tents, water, food and basic immediate
supplies. This is not a time to think about rebuild and reconstruction of the
country, it’s about saving the potential lives by strengthening and scattering
the search and rescue operation in all affected areas and assuring people that
they will be looked after.
One of the best search and rescue teams from New Zealand was
stood down right before their departure as the government claims that they have
more than enough manpower. Don’t know what politics is going on there, Shame on
them!
Where are Political parties of Nepal?
When people are begging for help to survive, none knows what
Nepali politicians and their cadres are doing. Nepali Congress and CPN UML are
in the government and we know how lame and disable the government has been in
dealing with this crisis but Unified Maoist Party of Nepal, who roar to make
new Nepal, once again proved that their slogan of New Nepal and helping the
downtrodden is a complete lie. Maoist Supremo Prachanda and his fellow mates
decided to open a party based bank account to collect the donations instead of
collaborating with the government or taking initiatives to be with people in
the crisis.
We all know how many communist politicians have transformed
themselves into lavish capitalists but this was an opportunity for them to
correct their mistakes and win people’s heart but now it’s clear that a snake
always remains a snake. It doesn't matter what the intention of the ex-king
Gyanendra to come on the road and interact with people is, but now with clarity
what we know is that almost every republican politicians of every political
parties of Nepal are worse than any autocratic kings of Nepal’s history.
Dozens of existing political parties, especially the four
major political parties had organised strikes in Nepal for several occasions
using their student unions and cadres but where are they now? Foreigners who
have come to Nepal for travelling are clearing the debris but our political
puppets are using this crisis an opportunity to achieve their political ends,
what a pity! Bamdev Gautam, the minister for home affairs can be interviewed by
international media for an hour but he has no time and courage to face his
people and understand their needs and trauma. Recognised youth politicians like Gagan Thapa. Yogeshwor Bhattrai and Brashaman Pun were also absent in relief camps when people were desperately waiting to get the assurance from their trusted leader. Now, whats the point of expecting that these youth would change the country?
Anti-India Sentiments
Nepal has many issues to deal with India and its multiple
governments didn't treat Nepal fairly on a political basis. Consequently, we
have some strong disagreements on their policies and actions. But when our own
corrupted politicians are more responsible for creating such diplomacy, why do
we hate India and Indians? Millions of Indian tourists visit Nepal to travel or
for pilgrimage, and when we offend them with derogatory terms like ‘Dhotis’,
are we not acting against our culture of respecting others?
Nepali youth flooded the streets and a tight security had to
be arranged when Bollywood actors like Akshay Kumar and Shahrukh Khan visited
Nepal in the past months. We love their movies and music, and we visit ‘Char
Dham’ in India for religious salvation; millions of Nepalis work in India, and
we bask in the glory reflected by the fame of Udit Narayan and Manisha Koirala;
and welcome Modi as a Royal character. Yet, Nepalis hold racist,
offensive, vulgar and abusive attitudes and opinions towards Indian people.
We don’t fully know what Indian government wants to achieve
from this crisis but Narendra Modi and his cabinet felt our pain more than our
corrupted politicians. Some Indian MPs are already ready to donate their
monthly income but where is the jumbo team of our 601 MPs who have pushed the
country into the ongoing worst political stalemate since the last five years?
If some of the Indian helicopters and aircraft went to Tibet to spy China, the
government of Nepal should have courage to formally and publicly ask India to
stop it and focus on rescue mission. Secondly, why can’t the government of
Nepal deploy a Nepali representative in each flight in order to make sure that these
things don’t happen?
When Bollywood superstars appeal to global audience to help
Nepal, words like ‘Wow’ and ‘Thank you’ pours from our mouth and when a couple
of media disseminate the news from a little negative angle, then we Nepali,
especially the educated ones lose our mind and start vomiting abusing and
racist words against them. Don’t forget many communities or ordinary Indians
are sending tons of fresh food and water to our people and they don’t deserve
these kinds of salutations.
With that being said we don’t need to forget our issues with
India, once the current crisis calms down, then the government and Nepali
politicians have to sort them out and if not we can use public power to pressurize them. This is the time to save as many lives as possible and they
have certainly worked hard despite a little more self- praise by Indian media
which is not uncommon.
International Aid and its transparency
The government hasn't confirmed how much aid it has received
from the world yet and how much is on the way but we can clearly say that the
significant amount of international aid and support is pouring in Nepal to
help victims of the quake, but distribution of aid faces challenges as our authorities
struggle with trying to coordinate a massive influx of international aid but as
per relief organizations, aid supplies remain stuck in cargo aircraft.
If you
sum up the total support from Japan, USA, England, Norway, Canada, Australia,
New Zealand and many others, billions of dollars must have already arrived or
at least on the way. Individuals from all over the world are also donating
cash, food and other necessary supplies through Red Cross, UNICEF, OXFAM, Non
Resident Nepalese Association and various national and international
organisations but due to lack of speedy distribution of urgent basic needs in
the country, victims are suffering more and the death toll is increasing every
minute. The government can’t hear the cry of people and just busy in defending
themselves. Many donors are now unsure whether they can trust the
government of Nepal. On the other hand political parties have already started
misusing the resources and aid is going to those who don’t really need it.
What needs to be done now?
- There are still some chances to save some lives as Pema Lama a teenage boy survived 120 hours under the rubble and the four-month-old boy was pulled out alive, despite spending more than 22 hours trapped beneath the debris, so let’s not give up on search and rescue and continue saving as many lives as possible
- Medical facilities and supplies must be the first priority to highly injured people and survivors. Reports are coming that many private hospitals are rejecting the intake of highly injured patients which must be strictly monitored by the authorities involved
- It’s insane that the thousands of people around the country haven’t received the basic amenities like tents, food, clothes and water to survive in an open space despite the significant flow of the supplies from different countries. Evidences have come out that these supplies are being distributed to wrong hands which must be stopped and the government should open its eyes and utilize its mechanisms to control this crime
- Search, rescue and relief activities can be made more effective by properly coordinating with foreign helping teams available there. The government decision of not accepting more foreign helping hands in search and rescue operation was one of the worst decisions which murdered many citizens whose lives could have been saved
- Daily updates on the progress of search and rescue, supplies distribution, challenges and furthers plans have to come from the government and the concerned authorities
- National and International Organisations like Red Cross, UNICEF, OXFAM, World Food Program and many more must be very vigilant on how the government and the authorities are using the funds provided because politically corrupted culture can take advantage of the situation
- If Nepali government is not confident in dealing with the whole quake crisis, especially for rebuild and reconstruction, they should take necessary help from the countries like Japan who have shown the best example of rebuilding their nation after the quake
- I personally suggest big nations to send their representatives with human right observers to monitor overall crisis situation of the country. The government and political parties can’t be trusted at any cost as their incompetence and disability has been already proven
- Short-term, medium-term and long term goals should be set up and action should be taken immediately for the rehabilitation of the affected people and the rebuild and reconstruction of the damaged infrastructures
- Community spirit is the best positive thing we have seen so far during the crisis, so people need to support each other and continue pressurizing the authorities
- Media can portray the reflection of the reality to the world, so they must be very active to control the corruption and provide justice to the victims, survivors and the needy
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