BARPAK (GORKHA), May 1

Following the 7.6 Richter earthquake on Saturday, Gorkha’s Barpak has turned to ruins incurring a huge loss of life and property, as the epicenter of the quake was Barpak village.

Tularam Ghale, a local of Barpak, said he was preparing to leave the village. “I will come back later but since the condition here is unbearable now, I’m leaving it,” said Ghale, demanding that the government should do the needful so that those who had survived the quake could live on.

Ghale said the people had lost their dwellings to the quake and the government should ensure shelter and food for them.

According to Ghale, a number of people were still buried under the debris.

“There are bodies under the rubble but who bothers to retrieve them? The dead are dead and the survivors are struggling to live, as they have no food, shelter or clothes,” said Ghale.

Western Regional Administration Office Pokhara officer Ramji Koirala told THT that those injured were being taken to health facilities. Today itself, an Indian Army chopper airlifted more than a dozed injured persons from Barpak to Pokhara for treatment. Among those rescued are two elderly women suffering from pneumonia.

Koirala said rainfall had only added to the woes of the quake victims.

Besides Barpak, a number of settlements, including Bhacchek and Palungtar in the north of the district, are badly hit by the Saturday’s quake and subsequent aftershocks.

“Though Palungtar was spared largescale damage, a number of its adjoining settlements have been rendered uninhabitable,” Dipendra Thapa, a local of Palungtar, told THT.

Thapa said long wait for relief had only added to the victims’ woes. “As tents are not enough for the people to live through the rains, there is a need for permanent shelters,” he added.

Indian army in action

KATHMANDU: The choppers of Indian Army are continuously ferrying relief materials to Gorkha from Pokhara. On Friday, five Indian army choppers ferried food, clothes and tents to places such as Bhacchek, Palungtar and Barpak.