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Kathmandu — Villagers in quake-stricken Nepal were distributing emergency provisions among themselves yesterday, as official aid and rescue operations continued to be held up.“Sindupalchowk is the worst-hit district and the people in our neighbourhood decided to put things together,” said a man calling himself Sagar in Kathmandu. He had travelled to the capital and was helping dispatch relief back to his home district, around 60km north of the capital.
“We’re so disappointed with the government efforts and the media is also not doing enough,” he told dpa.
Local media reported cases of affected locals muscling out government officials and taking control of relief operations.
“People have been so angry with the government in different places because of lack of support, and have blocked relief and all that so we need to be careful,” said Nayantara Gurung, an independent volunteer in Kathmandu.
“We haven’t heard any such reports so far” about similar incidents, head of the government’s disaster management department, Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said.
A group of Spanish tourists told DPA they were sending food supplies to Sindupalchowk, where over 2,000 people were killed.
Gurung said her group was focusing on basic shelter and medical supplies. “We’ve been able to send out supplies to outer Lalitpur’s rural areas, at a distance of a day’s walk” from Kathmandu.
The death toll reached 6,100 yesterday, six days after the 7.8-magnitude quake.
Also yesterday, 20 foreigners were rescued from Dhunche of Rasuwa district, 50km due north of Kathmandu, police spokesperson Kamal Singh Bam said.
Local media reports said 43 foreigners had died in the earthquake and 41 were still missing. – AP
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