Seventeen people were killed and many injured after a fresh quake aftershock in Nepal triggered a series of tremors across east and north India within a span of less than two hours on Tuesday.
At a high-level meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the situation and issued directions to the authorities concerned to remain on alert for carrying out rescue and relief operations, if required.
While 16 people were reported killed in different parts of Bihar, including four deaths in the State capital Patna, one person died in Uttar Pradesh. About 60 people were earlier killed in Bihar after a massive earthquake on April 25. Tremors were also felt in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Delhi. Flight services from India to Nepal were also disrupted on Tuesday afternoon for sometime, as the Kathmandu airport was shut for a brief period.
The National Crisis Management Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth held video conferencing with the Chief Secretaries of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim and West Bengal to ascertain the extent of damage caused by the tremors. Soon after the Nepal aftershock, Union Home Secretary L.C. Goyal also reviewed the ground situation. “The National Disaster Response Force and the Air Force have been kept on a standby,” said a government official, adding that rescue teams would be sent to Nepal only when the Nepalese government makes a formal request in this regard.
A few days ago, India had recalled all its rescue teams from the quake-hit country following a request from the Nepalese government asking all foreign rescue teams to return home. Indian rescue teams were the first to reach Kathmandu within hours after the earthquake hit Nepal on April 25.The meteorological department has recorded over 160 tremors since then.
