Nepal asks all foreign rescue teams to leave
NDRF’s mission over, will return
The Nepal government on Monday asked hundreds of foreign rescue workers to leave the quake- hit country as immediate relief has already been provided and the remaining tasks will be carried out by its Army and police.
The major rescue work in Kathmandu and surrounding areas is over and the remaining operations can be handled by local workers, information minister Minendra Rijal said. However, there was work remaining in the villages and remote mountainous areas that could be carried out by foreign aid volunteers along with the local police and Army, he added.
[ In New Delhi, the Indian government said the work of the National Disaster Response Force, that was deployed in Nepal immediately after the April 25 earthquake for rescue operations, was over and the Nepal government had asked the NDRF to demobilise so that reconstruction and rehabilitation work could begin, said minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju, under whom the NDRF falls, and this decision should not be construed in any other way.]
Nepal’s Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee, that is headed by home minister and deputy PM Bam Dev Gautam, had asked the government to bid adieu to the foreign rescue teams on Sunday. Around 4,500 people from 34 nations, including India’s NDRF, had rushed to Nepal after the April 25 earthquake.
Most of the rescue teams were carrying out operations in the worsthit areas of the Kathmandu Valley, Sindhupalchowk and Gorkha districts.
“It’s more than eight days after the quake. The rescue teams have served their purpose and we are very thankful to them,” said home ministry official Laxmi Prasad Dhakal. “According to International Search and Rescue Group guidelines, the search and rescue teams have to be carried out for seven days, when the survival chances are highest. The remaining work will now be carried out by the Nepalese Army and police,” he added.
However, all relief and medical teams are still in Nepal to carry out their operations. The medical teams are likely to be in the country for some more time. “The health ministry will allow only a few teams of health workers to work in the country on the basis of their expertise. Others will be asked to return home. “Relief teams are working in different areas, but the topography and terrain of the nation is still acting as a major impediment in reaching out to people. But foreign rescue teams and the Indian and American air forces are helping in reaching out to them,” Mr Dhakal added.