We can’t tell streets from houses — a field report from Nepal
“The question that haunts us after witnessing the heartbreaking situation in Bhaktapur is — Do we have a government?”
Report by Umesh Shrestha and Rishikesh Dahal for MySansar.com Translated by Tistung Deurali (@tistung)
Ram and Maiya Baasi are searching for clothes for their 16-year old daughter. She is in a hospital. They are searching in the debris of the fallen house near Dattatreya Temple in Bhaktapur, an ancient city east of Kathmandu. The district hospital has referred their daughter to another hospital, but the couple don’t have money for that.
“Our house is damaged, daughter is injured, please help us,” Maiya pleaded to us when we went there.
Everywhere around us, we see only the debris of destroyed houses. It’s hard to separate houses from streets. Security forces are involved in relief work and they have found four dead bodies just west of this couple’s destroyed property.
Many houses have been completely destroyed, some partially. Amidst the ruins, one can see framed pictures of family members hanging on the wall, utensils, and carpets lying around. Damaged kitchens can be seen from outside, in a state of damage.
“It is shaking, please be careful,” a security person involved in rescue operation was shouting. Houses partially destroyed may crash and kill people. Rescuers are themselves working in a highly risky situation. Many destroyed houses still remain to be inspected.
Maiya has been asked repeatedly by security personnel to move to a safer place. She refuses to. Her daughter, who took the school leaving exam (SLC) this year lies injured. She’s hoping to find something in her house’s debris that could be of help for her daughter’s treatment. “All the jewellery and money has been buried”- she was saying as her hands lay on a dead chick. Many animals have also been buried. This scene told us that the possibility of a dangerous [health] epidemic in the aftermath of the earthquake was very real.
As we walked among the ruins of destroyed buildings, we saw motorbikes buried under our feet. Local youths said that many cars and motorbikes were buried and there could be people right beneath the debris we were walking on. It was a chilling thought.
Rescue work is itself challenging. “We don’t know what lies 50 meters inside here,” one army personnel told us. “Can you use your camera to see if something lies there ?” While we were using drones to film the ruins, this request from the rescuers was making their desperation evident.
Today is the third day after the big earthquake. Tremors are still being felt. The sky is gloomy. There’s some drops of rain from the sky. Some people were looking for utensils in the ruins. They were taking shelter in local squares, but they needed something to cook on.
The main source of water here is groundwater wells. The water in the wells has become murky but the local youths are still carrying it to the shelters. The houses to the north and south of the eastern side of the Dattatrya temple square have been completely destroyed. The narrow streets of Bhaktapur went past through these houses but now rescue workers are not able to tell the streets from the houses.
Ram and Maiya asked us if anyone would be able to help them. The security personnel had been toiling on the field and conducting rescues on a diet of noodles and water. They had no answer for Ram and Maiya. “We are here to report on the situation. We will go and tell the government how you are suffering.” This was all the answer that we could manage but even we don’t know what the government can do.
We are not convinced on the government’s effectiveness. After seeing this heartbreaking situation, we only have a question- do we have a government?
