Devastated Nepal Receives Tuna Fish And Mayonnaise While It Needs Grain Salt Sugar And Tents
By Countercurrents.org
04 May, 2015
Countercurrents.org
Along with slow pace of relief operation, lack of helicopters and coordination, and rising death toll in the earthquake devastated Nepal a mockery in aid response has got unearthed: Tuna fish and mayonnaise have been delivered while the devastated rice producing people need grain, salt and sugar. Another bad news has also followed: About 1,000 EU citizens in Nepal are still not in contact.
Moreover, concerned authorities have said: The relief material so far received is inadequate, and a proposal by the Maoist revolutionaries for an all party mechanism for relief work has still not been accepted by other political parties in Nepal.
More than7000 people died in the earthquake. The death toll could go up, as search and rescue efforts are still continuing in hill districts including Dhading, Rasuwa and Sindhupalchok. However, Nepal's authorities have ruled out finding more survivors of the earthquake.
Tuna fish
Media reports said:
Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat told reporters Friday: "We have received things like tuna fish and mayonnaise. What good are those things for us? We need grains, salt and sugar."
Nepal's government renewed its appeal to international donors to send tents, tarpaulins and basic food supplies, saying some of the items being sent are of little use.
The prime minister was briefed about the relief distribution by Nepal Army officials including Nepal Army Chief Gen Gaurav SJB Rana. The NA officials told the PM that relief materials received by Nepal was below than the expectation and very few relief materials have stocked in airport premises.
The NA officials told only 11 trucks of relief materials are in stock in central command post that Nepal received from outside and relief materials is not received as expected.
Some planes came with little relief materials but busy on evacuating their nationals made the narrow airport busy so that planes bringing relief materials could not land on time.
The government also asked donors to send money to help with relief efforts if they cannot send things that are immediately necessary.
Nepal’s information minister Minendra Rijal said Nepal would immediately need 400,000 tents and so far has been able to provide only 29,000 to the people who need them.
Nepal has repeatedly called for more foreign help and humanitarian aid, admitting it was ill-prepared for the disaster.
The Maoist proposal
An ekantipur.com report said:
The UCPN (Maoist) has proposed to form an all-party mechanism to ease relief distribution to earthquake victims and monitor the overall process.
In an all-party meeting held at the prime minister’s residence on Friday, the Maoist party proposed to form a mechanism to make relief distribution “more effective”.
The Kathmandu, May 2 datelined report said:
The local bodies are without people’s representatives and government employees have been performing political and administrative duties. Citing the lack of elected representatives, the Maoist party proposed to form the cross-party mechanism at the centre, districts and the local level.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party was quick to oppose the bid. Other parties, however, remained silent.
Unaccounted EU citizens
An EU official said about 1,000 people from Europe still were unaccounted for and had not contacted their embassies since the quake struck.
EU Ambassador to Nepal Rensje Teerink said that "doesn't mean they are dead. It just means they haven't reported back." Most were tourists and trekkers, and many did not register with their embassies.
Overflowing hospitals
"Hospitals are overflowing, water is scarce, bodies are still buried under the rubble and people are still sleeping in the open. This is a perfect breeding ground for diseases," said Rownak Khan, UNICEF's deputy representative in Nepal.
More than a fourth of the population affected
The U.N. has estimated the number of people affected by the quake: 8.1 million people — more than a fourth of Nepal's population of 27.8 million.
More than 130,000 houses were destroyed in the quake, according to the U.N. humanitarian office.
Relief material: yet to reach
Landslides and poor weather have hampered efforts to deliver aid to isolated districts, and there are only about 20 helicopters available for the rescue and relief operations. It is taking long to get to people who desperately need aid.
Another ekantipur.com report showed the state of relief operation as the report citing officials said:
Relief materials have yet to reach many remote areas that have suffered loss of lives and properties. Already a week has passed since the earthquake hit the mountain country.
The Kathmandu, May 2 datelined report said:
Authorities expect the distribution to begin in these areas within a couple of days.
In Nuwakot, distribution of relief has already started. However, relief has not yet reached the northern region of the district.
In Barpak of Gorkha district, the supposed earthquake epicenter, the Nepal Army helicopters dropped relief supplies on Friday. The victims from Lapu and Thumi VDCs in Gorkha are still awaiting relief.
In Langtang region, 341 people were rescued from the avalanche-affected areas.
At the same time, hundreds of displaced and injured lambasted the government for the delayed relief and rescue works at various settlements in the districts hardest hit by the earthquake.
Enraged at the government’s delay in providing relief materials to them, locals at Khoplang VDC reportedly looted a vehicle carrying relief materials on Friday.
At the epicenter
An ekantipur.com report said:
The earthquake victims in some remote VDCs in Gorkha are still deprived of much-needed relief materials while rescuers are nowhere to be seen. They complained that although some parts of the district have witnessed increased amount of rescue and relief works, rescuers are yet to reach certain remote parts there.
Even the victims of Madre and Pokharigaun settlements in Barpak VDC, the epicenter of last Saturday’s earthquake, are in desperate need of immediate relief materials, which, however, will not reach the place anytime soon despite a number of helicopters seen hovering in the sky.
Meanwhile, a woman who was trapped in the rubble of a house destroyed by April 25 earthquake died in Saurpani as she was not fortunate enough to be rescued on time. Twelve persons are still reported to be missing in Gumda VDC while the condition and whereabouts of seven persons who went to a forest in Lapu-6 is unknown.
“Many people here have lost their family members as the mud and brick houses were completely destroyed in the earthquake. We could not even perform proper funeral rites for them due to lack of shelter and foodstuffs. Those who survived the earthquake are in danger of reeling under famine as we are now facing acute shortage of food provisions and water,’ said Bhimnath Adhikari of Muchchok. He said the villagers are even deprived of tents for shelter.
Victims in all 60 VDCs in Gorkha complained of government’s failure to properly coordinate relief and rescue works in the district, because of which relief materials have still not reached villages like Muchchok, Simjung, Ghyalchok, Barpak, Laprak, Gumda, Kashigaun, Lapu, Kerauja, Kerabari, Gankhu, Manbu, Deurali, Bunkot, Phujel, Aaruchanaute, Thumi, among others.
Sindhupalchok and Kavre
At least 150 people trapped under rubble of buildings destroyed by earthquake in Tatopani of Kodari, Sindhupalchok district have been rescued. Some 100 others are still waiting to be rescued in the area. Scores of people who went to the famous Tatopani bazaar that borders Khasa of China, to do shopping have been stranded there after the earthquake.
Scores of people are believed to have died in villages in northern part of the district after being buried under the rubble of houses destroyed by the tremor. Local people here complained that some of the injured from Piskar, Marming, Tauthali including other VDCS have been deprived of emergency medical treatment as the authorities are yet to reach remote parts of the district.
Meanwhile, the victims of the earthquake in Kavre criticized the government rescue teams of failing to provide them relief materials even six days after the disaster.
They also claimed that local leaders of various political parties have whisked away the relief materials meant to be distributed in areas hardest hit by the earthquake to their respective constituencies.
Tanka Prasad Nepal of Chandeni-5 said the earthquake victims in his locality are staying in makeshift tents for the past seven days in pitiable condition. According to him, the victims are facing acute shortage of food and water. “We will starve to death if the authorities fail to provide us some relief materials immediately,” he said.
Dhading
Local organizations also went to the affected areas to distribute the relief materials that they collected. According to reports from Dhading, the earthquake victims have not been provided relief materials in northern VDCs in the district.
Food insecurity
A Kathmandu Post report said:
Nepal could face increased food insecurity in the wake of the earthquake which will adversely hit summer crop plantation as well as winter harvests.
The quake struck when farmers were preparing for corn and wheat harvests and paddy plantation that begins from May-end.
Farmers who miss the planting season that is expected to start late May onwards will be unable to harvest rice--the country’s staple--again until late 2016.
The UN food agency said that although damage to the agriculture sector in Nepal has not yet been assessed, affected families have likely lost livestock, crops, food stocks and valuable agricultural inputs.
A late monsoon along with untimely rain is set to hit the paddy yield this fiscal, with the Agriculture Ministry estimating paddy output to drop 5.1 percent to 4.78 million tonnes.
Disruption of planting operations for paddy and maize may severely reduce the planted area for these crops in the most affected districts.
However, former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal said the earthquake would not have a significant impact on the farm sector as the major food producing district in Tarai has not been affected much. “But the earthquake impact would be significant in other sectors like service and manufacturing,” he said.
The Asian Development Bank’s initial assessment of the economic impact of the earthquake too stated that service sector would be hit.
The production activities, especially in the service sector, have been severely disrupted, mainly due to damage to physical infrastructure and distribution networks.
According to the ADB, travel and tourism is likely to be badly hit with most key hotels shutting down for next few weeks to examine the structural integrity of their buildings.
The Food and Agriculture Organization reckons the tremor has left some 3.5 million people in need of food assistance.
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