Kathmandu: Thousands of military and police personnel were on Tuesday deployed as Nepal took over from foreign rescue teams to mount massive operations to rehabilitate displaced victims of the devastating temblor that has killed at least 7,557 people, including 41 Indians.
A day after the Nepalese government asked rescue teams from India and 33 other countries to leave the Himalayan nation, over 1,31,500 Nepali military and police personnel joined aid operations in different areas.
The government said the personnel are aided by more than 100 teams of foreign relief workers in the arduous task that lies before them after the powerful April 25 temblor.
Some 11 rescue teams comprising over 500 rescue workers, including India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel, which had the largest presence in Nepal after the country faced its worst disaster in over 80 years, have left.
Officials said the Nepalese army and police “would now be taking over from the foreign teams”.
Four of India’s 16 NDRF teams were today airlifted and brought to Chandigarh, a senior NDRF officer told PTI.
Three other teams were on their way to Patna by road from Kathmandu. The remaining 9 teams will leave in a day or two, the officer said.
“The countries have been indicated that they may exit Nepal. Today is the eleventh day after the earthquake, so the possibility of finding a survivor is slim.
“So far, 11 teams comprising over 500 people have left Nepal. Teams from Canada, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Turkey, Pakistan, USA, the Netherlands, Poland, India and Turkey have left Nepal,” Jagdish Pokhrel, spokesperson for the Nepalese army said.
He, however, added that the exercise of foreign rescue teams leaving Nepal would be in a phased manner.
“The teams will not leave at one go. For instance, some 158 NDRF personnel and 128 civilians have left the country, but the rest are still there. This has to be done in a planned manner. The respective countries are working on it,” he added.
Around 4,500 foreign rescue workers had descended on Nepal, sifting through mounds of rubble and pulling out bodies and survivors amid dozens of aftershocks. (PTI)
