1,935 Indians evacuated from Nepal

New Delhi/Patna, April 27

The Indian Air Force has fetched 1,935 Indian back from Kathmandu to New Delhi since late Saturday even as its personnel continued with "Operation Maitri" in quake-hit Nepal overnight despite inclement weather, Sitanshu Kar, spokesperson for defence ministry, said on Monday.

"As of now, the IAF has evacuated 1,935 passengers from Kathmandu utilising 12 aircraft sorties," he said.

"The IAF continued its operations last night despite odds."  Quoting the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, the spokesperson for India's external affairs ministry, Vikas Swarup, said, Indians will now also be evacuated by busses from Pokhra, a hill resort in the Nepal, to Raxaul in Bihar.

"Fourteen civilian flights -- seven scheduled and seven special -- will operate today (Monday) from Kathmandu to Delhi," he said.

The latest plane to land in New Delhi from Kathmandu was a C-17 with 291 passengers on board at 06.30 a.m.

In Nepal, IAF personnel had concluded by 8.00 a.m. the five aborted sorties that could not be be undertaken on Sunday due to fresh aftershocks and seven more.

As fresh tremors continued in the early hours of Monday, the Rapid Action Medical Team of the IAF was ready with medicines and equipment to open a first aid unit at Lagankhel on the outskirts of the airport in Kathmandu, Kar said.

"Three doctors and 25 paramediccs will man the centre," he said adding that six medical teams and an engineer task force, besides blankets, tents and other relief items were being flown in to Nepal on Monday.

150 Indians reach Raxaul in Bihar from Nepal

Meanwhile, at least 150 Indians who reached the Indian border at Raxaul from Nepal this morning were sent to their homes by different trains and 10 buses were dispatched to Pokhra in the neighbouring country by the Bihar government for transporting back stranded citizens.

“The state government has facilitated journey of 150 people by trains to different locations who reached Raxaul by road from Nepal this morning,” Principal Secretary Disaster Management department Vyas Jee told PTI.

He said the state government had sent 10 buses to Pokhra to bring back stranded Indians. Five more buses would go there soon for the purpose.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is taking stock of situation in the state as the quake has claimed 51 lives and left 173 injured and issuing necessary direction to officials, Chief Minister Office said.

As per CM order, all schools and colleges in the state were closed for today and tomorrow in view of the tense situation.

A report from Motihari, headquarters of East Champaran district along the Indo-Nepal border, which has suffered the maximum casualty in Bihar in the quake, said District Magistrate Bharat Kumar Dubey and Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar are in Raxaul to monitor facilities in relief camps there.

District Public Relation Officer Madhusudan Prasad said police, magistrates and team of doctors were working round the clock in relief camps in Raxaul.

In Sitamarhi, the district administration has arranged water and generator sets in open space in Dumra airport ground, Raghunath Jha school compound among others for the people who have been taking shelter there.

About 200 patients have been shifted from Emergency, Surgical and Orthopaedic wards of Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) to other hospitals in the town as the building is old and not in good condition, District Magistrate Kumar Ravi said. — IANS/PTI