Nepal Earthquake: India is the first nation to send emergency supplies to the areas of Nepal affected by the earthquake. A second shipment of nine tons of emergency supplies from India reached Nepal on Monday for the families devastated by the earthquake in the country’s northwest mountainous region. As a result of the recent tremor, residents in this area are suffering from a scarcity of food, warm clothing, and medications.
Just before midnight on Friday, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, leaving over 250 people wounded and 153 dead. According to authorities, the western Nepalese districts of Jajarkot and Rukum West were struck by an earthquake that also caused damage to some 8,000 private and public homes.
India is now the first nation to provide essential supplies of help to Nepal’s earthquake-affected areas. Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar wrote on X that “India’s support to Nepal remains strong and steadfast in this difficult hour.”
The second shipment of relief supplies was given to Shravan Kumar Pokhrel, the Chief District Officer of Banke in Nepal, by Prasanna Shrivastava, the Deputy Chief of the Indian mission. The special C-130 aircraft of the Indian Air Force carried this second shipment, which weighed nine tonnes, to Nepalgunj. It contained blankets, sleeping bags, tents, and essential hygiene and medical items. Over 11 tonnes of relief supplies, including tents, tarpaulin sheets, blankets, sleeping bags, necessary medications, and medical equipment, were included in the first shipment, which arrived earlier.
The Indian Embassy has emphasised that in the wake of the Jajarkot earthquake, India’s solidarity is unshakable. Accompanied by members of the Armed Police Force Nepal, these relief supplies were transported from Nepalgunj Airport to the impacted districts. Sixty-two plastic tarpaulin and tent units, one thousand sleeping bags, one thousand blankets, seventy-five large-size tents, thirty-five packs of tent accessories, medications, and forty-eight other necessary goods make up the relief supplies.
Another 5.8-magnitude earthquake and its aftershock of 4.5-magnitude rocked Jajarkot and the neighbouring districts while relief operations continued. The survivors of the disaster, including those in Chiuritol village, cremated their departed family members in spite of these difficulties. The difficult terrain has prevented the relief supplies from reaching a number of the impacted districts.
The survivors have voiced their urgent need for aid and have taken issue with the government’s slow reaction. They are enduring difficult circumstances, having little money, becoming sick, and having trouble finding warm clothes and food. The number of deaths from the most recent earthquake has been amended by the authorities, and because of the open living circumstances and destroyed infrastructure, there are worries about a possible spread of infectious illnesses.
A major issue in the coming days will be preventing disease outbreaks and delivering further relief, particularly given the elevated risk of waterborne infections and cold-related illnesses. Concerns around contaminated water sources and open defecation are also raised by the removal of toilets. Additionally, there is an increased chance of contracting vector-borne illnesses such scrub typhus, dengue, kala-azar, and malaria.
