DELHI IGNORES QUAKE IMPACT IN INDIA,OVER 100 KILLED WITH COUNT RISING

NEW DELHI: India’s relief and rescue mission for the victims of the Nepal earthquake has earned kudos for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to a point where the government seems to have forgotten that over a 100 persons have died in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar alone, hundreds injured, with the tremors flattening the houses of the poorest of the poor in these states. Several have been injured in West Bengal.

While PM Modi and others have figures of those dead in Nepal at fingertips, little is known about the exact number of those killed in these two states of India. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav after declaring that four or seven persons were killed just after the quake tremors hit districts in Uttar Pradesh, has been making more statements about Nepal than the dead at home. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has, on the other hand, been working assiduously to restore power lines, and reach rescue and relief missions to the affected villages with over 50 deaths being reported till date. The figures are still rising.

The Citizen received calls from UP, alerting it to the deep devastation in the state. Sources said over 50 persons have died in the state, with a heavy storm on April 28 killing many as houses that had reportedly developed cracks because of the earthquake tremors collapsed in different parts of the state, including Lucknow. In the districts known as the “Nepal Terai” the damage has been severe, but not yet assessed by the state government that is keeping a lid on the number of dead and injured by giving the wrong figures according to locals. In Siddharthnagar district bordering Nepal there has been sustained damage, with several school children grievously injured when the tremors brought down a school building. It could not be ascertained how many died, but the figures vary now from the official seven to the over 50 that most newspapers are currently reporting.

First reports placed the number of dead in UP at 24, with the numbers rising after the second tremors and now with the heavy storm that brought down the buildings that has suffered structural damage with the quake. The telecommunication system was impacted as mobile towers collapsed, with schools being shut down. The chief minister has announced a compensation package, but the statistics still continue to defy the authorities here.

There is deep discontent in Lucknow with several journalists complaining about the state government’s efforts to muzzle the news, by either giving wrong statistics or no figures at all. The Chief Minister is said to be over reliant on the Principal Information Officer, who had worked with Bahujan Samaj leader Mayawati when she was the chief minister earlier, who is generous with his favours for the scribes, and stingy with the news.

Reports from Bihar, while equally devastating, with the number of dead now reaching 53 and still rising, the state government has been more effective on the ground. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been personally supervising the rescue and relief work, with Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav also reportedly active in the affected districts. Power supply was hit but reports suggest that this has now been restored. There has been extensive damage to the crops because of the subsequent hail and rain storm that hit both UP and Bihar.

PM Modi who has been very busy with Nepal, has only now decided to send four ministers to oversee relief work in Bihar, that is going to the polls this year. The Ministers include Dharmendra Pradhan, Ananth Kumar, Radha Mohan Singh and J P Nadda.

The extent of devastation has eclipsed the impact of the tremors in the Indian states, but in UP in particular it has also eclipsed work on the ground. The national media that is following the lead taken by the central government, is reporting largely on Nepal, with the plight of the poor farmers and landless labourers in UP, Bihar, and West Bengal going virtually unreported. Akhilesh Yadav has not visited a single affected area till date, according to sources in Lucknow. As a young lawyer whose child was injured in the school collapse in Siddharthnagar said, “why would he or anyone come here, we do not matter until there is an election.”

However, he has followed the Prime Minister’s lead in announcing help for Nepal in front of the media spotlights. He announced initial help in the form of ten trucks of mineral water, ten truck of biscuits, and a truck of medicines. The state government and the people of Uttar Pradesh are with Nepal in this time of crisis, Yadav said. But who is with the people of UP in their crisis?

The difference between the central and UP government’s obsession with publicity,and Nitish Kumar’s approach is stark. Apart from the work within his state, the Bihar chief minister also announced help packages for the Nepal victims. However, he focused attention on the border areas with emphasis on rescue and relief. Over a 100 persons were evacuated from Pokhara in Nepal to Raxaul on the border, and blankets, clothes and other essentials arranged for the victims. A state minister was appointed to oversee the rescue and relief operations at the border with the state government plying to bring back the stranded persons from Nepal. Relief camps have been set up at East Champaran district in Raxaul by the Bihar government.