Jajarkot, Nov 7: The road through the Jajarkot district headquarters is dotted with green tarpaulin tents. These makeshift tents put up by the Armed Police Force (APF) Nepal have been providing shelter to the locals who are living under the open sky after their homes were damaged by the earthquake on November 3.
The Armed Police Force has managed
the tarpaulin sheet tents to protect from cold the people who have been
displaced after most of the mud-and-stone masonry traditional houses collapsed
due to the 6.4 magnitude tremor.
The APF has also made arrangement
for tents in the premises of Tribhuvan Secondary School as well as part of its
campaign to provide temporary shelter in the aftermath of the devastating
earthquake.
People cannot stay inside their
homes due to the frequent aftershocks. The earthquake survivors are living
under the canopy of the tarpaulin sheets in the school ground.
Pradip Khadka of Bheri
Municipality-2 said he felt safe living under the tent built in the school premises.
The APF Nepal team has reached
various wards of the municipality to facilitate in the relief distribution. The
APF personnel are helping with the distribution of relief materials, counseling
the earthquake survivors and lending hands in setting up tents for them.
A squad of the APF is helping in
the distribution of relief at Rija of Nalgad Municipality-2. It has also been
providing counseling to the distressed people in the wake of the disaster.
All the government bodies have not
been able to pay much attention for the distribution of relief and
rehabilitation of the earthquake survivors in outlying areas from the district
headquarters. The locals lack adequate information and knowledge to stay safe
from the quake even as frequent aftershocks have been occurring here.
The quake victims are facing much
inconvenience even living under the tarpaulin cover as roof as the local level
has not been able to manage blankets and bedding in required numbers. Ganesh
Thapa of Bheri Municipality-3 complained that he has not received warm
clothes.
Relief materials have not yet
reached in most of the remote places outside the district headquarters.
Problems have been faced as the relief is being distributed haphazardly without
preparing the criteria. It is said problem has arisen in the distribution of
relief as the representatives of various organisations who have reached the
villages have been distributing relief materials as per their convenience.
Meanwhile, relief has reached
Barekot Rural Municipality on Monday only, two days after the earthquake. Rural
Municipality Chair Bir Bahadur Giri said the people in the rural municipality
have been living under the open sky and protecting them from cold is the major
challenge.
13 injured in major aftershock
Thirteen people have been injured
in Jajarkot and Rukum West due to the aftershock that struck the area on
Monday. The epicentre of the aftershock measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale was
Ramidanda. The epicentre of the November 3 earthquake was also located at
Ramidanda.
Two people were injured in Jajarkot
and 11 in Rukum West due to the aftershock that occurred at 4.30 pm on Monday,
Chief District Officer of Jajarkot, Suresh Sunar said.
Almost half those killed in quake
are children
Meanwhile, almost half of those
killed in the earthquake on Friday were children, it has been found. According
to data with the police, 78 of the 157 people killed in the quake on the night
of November 3 were children. Of the deceased children, 50 died in Jajarkot and
28 in Rukum West due to the quake, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Santosh
Roka.
Twenty eight of 52 people died in
the quake in Rukum West were children, said the district police chief Namraj
Bhattarai. "Most of the deceased in Rukum West were children. Two
10-month-old children have also lost their lives," he said.
According to the Jajarkot police,
of the 105 deceased in Jajarkot, 50 were children, 33 women and 18 men. In
Rukum West, 16 women and eight men died in the quake. (RSS)