Quake has left scar for life, Kolkata newly-wed says
Couple among the 5,400 Indians who were rescued from Nepal
Newly-wed Lipi was preparing lunch for her husband when she noticed the kitchen window shaking all of a sudden and her house in Kathmandu shuddering as the devastating quake struck Nepal.
“My first response was that the window was shaking because of the bad weather. That’s when I heard my neighbours shout ‘Come out! It’s an earthquake!’ And I ran for safety,” Lipi said after arriving in Delhi, where she had the first bite of food after staying famished for over 48 hours.
Minutes after the quake, they witnessed a wide chasm in the street outside their house, some buildings that fell over one another while some were reduced to a huge pile of rubble in seconds.
“That scene has left a scar on my mind for life,” said Lipi, who breathed the first sigh of relief only when she sat in an Indian Air Force plane sent to Kathmandu to evacuate Indian nationals.
Among the 5,400 Indians that had been rescued from Nepal as of Monday, the Kolkata-based homemaker was relieved to be back home from Kathmandu, where she had a temporary abode and lived with her husband.
Arin Bose, Lipi’s husband, blacked out for a few seconds initially when the earthquake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, shook the earth beneath him while he was shopping in a market. As the West Bengal government grapples to access the impact of Saturday’s earthquake, which shook parts of north Bengal, the government is putting an all-out effort to trace the 108 people from the state still stranded in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal.
“As per the information available, 108 people are the states were in Nepal for various purposes are still stranded and could not be traced. We are trying our best to get them back,” chief minister Mamata Banerjee said after holding a meeting with senior officials in Siliguri.
Banerjee said 336 people from Bengal who were in Nepal have either come back or are on their way back and the state will be sending buses into Nepal so that the people can meet their loved ones and bring them back if they want.
She also formed a crisis management group to deal with the impact in three districts of north Bengal.
As his senses returned after a momentary lapse, fear gripped this young IT professional and he began to cry for the safety of his wife who was alone at home.
“I was concerned whether she would choose to leave the house and run towards an open field or freeze out of fear in the kitchen itself,” said Bose, who says he has seen the “worst in life” but is determined to return to Kathmandu to help in rescue operations.
Last Saturday’s
earthquake and its aftershocks in Nepal have left over 4,347 people dead and 6,313 injured. The death toll may rise to 10,000, according to Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.
Recounting the horror, Bose said: “There were about 80-100 aftershocks that we experienced over those three days. But they have not been recorded. Had it ended there, it was still OK. But it was a continuous process that did not let the paranoia subside.”
The Boses said they paid Nepali Rs1,000 (Dh36) for only two litres of water and spent the night in an open field where the entire neighbourhood was camping.
New beginning
But there were people who rose to the occasion.
“A Nepalese taxi driver, who charged us the exact fare and nothing more, brought us to the airport. We learnt about it [India’s rescue operations] through messages on WhatsApp and Viber.
“There were not just Indian citizens but foreigners as well, including many Nepalese at the airport. Hats off to our army and the air force that is dedicatedly airlifting scores of people from just that one strip,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lipi looks forward to a new beginning with her family, but is unable to shake off the fear.
“I am feeling that the earth beneath me is still shaking,” she said.
Her husband managed to hold his composure.
“I have been withholding my emotions after all those tragic scenes. I didn’t break down to support my wife who was very scared,” said Bose who is determined to return to Kathmandu.