Nepal PM faces ire of quake victims

More than 11,000 people have been injured in the quake, the worst in over 80 years.

Canadian relief plane lands

The first Canadian Forces plane bearing relief supplies landed in earthquake-ravaged Nepal Wednesday, stopping briefly in Kathmandu before taking on a small group of Canadians and Americans and flying them to India. The Canadian flight marks the first of what may be as many as seven trips, as Ottawa prepares to send road-clearing equipment, medical expertise and soldiers to a country still struggling to take stock of this weekend’s disaster.

Protests greeted Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala in relief camps as anger spilled over to the streets with people seizing food and water supplies, four days after a devastating quake claimed over 6,000 lives.

People vented their anger when the Prime Minister visited their camps to assess relief work and complained that they were not getting any aid. Sushil Koirala told them that he had come to see for himself the difficult situation Nepal is faced with and assured them that help would reach them at the earliest.

Thousands of desperate Nepalese, who have been staying in the open with no houses to return to and fearing more devastation from aftershocks, clashed with police and seized water-bottles and other essential supplies.

Frayed tempers were also witnessed at the main bus station in Kathmandu where quake victims had gathered to get out of Kathmandu but the promised buses failed to arrive. Scuffles broke out between angry crowds and the riot police which arrived there to control the situation.

Meanwhile, India said it is focusing on Kathmandu and the worst-affected Gorkha district for its rescue and relief efforts in the quake-hit country.

“India has focused its assistance in two parts of Nepal.The first one is the capital, Kathmandu, and the second one is Gorkha district which was epicentre of the earthquake,” Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said.

Over 500 personnel from NDRF are currently in Nepal to carry out the rescue operations.

“We are fully committed to help government of Nepal in this gigantic disaster. We express our solidarity with the people in this tragic moment and will continue our cooperation towards the government of Nepal as long as it is required,” Mr. Rae said.

Dinesh Bhattarai, Foreign Affairs Advisor to Nepal Prime Minister, said: “It is helping and the challenge is to take more relief materials to the affected people and areas and that has been our challenge. We have constituted committees and they are working very hard in some of the areas which are not accessible.

While many villages across Nepal are still waiting for rescue and relief teams, life in the capital, Kathmandu, is slowly returning to normal. Municipal workers on Wednesday began cleaning the streets.

Authorities in the country are now facing the daunting task of tackling post-quake challenges like spread of diseases and rehabilitation.