In flood-hit Nepal, people hope amid fear

Kathmandu, Nepal: A strange mix of emotions fills the air as one walks into the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu: There is confusion, desperate hope and a sinking feeling. Three days into the devastating flash floods that hit northern Nepal, tired eyes gaze into the hospital pillars where names of those rescued from the worst-affected areas and treated in this premier public healthcare facility are displayed.The lists have the names of men, women, children and toddlers — those who escaped the jaws of death. Some of them were in the ICU, some others were discharged. Several others died while undergoing treatment.Thirty-one-year-old Bimala Thapa works in the hospital as a cleaning help. Her eyes look exhausted. She last spoke to her husband, Mohan Rokaya, who worked as a labourer in Timure near the Nepal-China border, on Tuesday evening. Little did she know that it could perhaps be the last time she spoke to him. Mohan had the habit of calling their 12-year-old son every morning before he goes to school. On Wednesday, however, the phone did not ring.“I am unable to find any information about him. I really hope that my Buro (husband) is safe somewhere. And I hope that he will come back,” says Bimala as she chokes with tears. Her son stands nearby with a lost look in his eyes.Around the hospital, people are desperately trying to trace their loved ones, with some of them sticking posters with details of their relatives on a wall nearby. Some others are eager to speak to the media in the hope that some stranger somewhere could help connect them with those washed away by the flood waters on August 26. Others want to just cry and grieve in silence.Nepal issues Rs 100 currency notes with map comprising Kalapani, Lipulekh and LimpiyadhuraWhen the answers are not found in the main hospital lobby, people turn towards the mortuary, praying for some miracle. Here, they must look at the dead to ensure there is some hope still left. Some of the photographs of the deceased at the mortuary gates are difficult to look at. Many of them were disfigured completely, and that is a big challenge for authorities to ascertain their identity. In many cases, a DNA test may be needed.Meanwhile, friends and families of Indian nationals and NRIs, who used private tour operators for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, have been queuing up at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.Deepak and Madhu Ahuja, a couple based in Texas, US, went for the pilgrimage as part of a group. Their last known cell phone location was at the Gyirong Immigration facility in Tibet on their way back to Kathmandu. Deepak’s brother Manoj Gupta flew to Kathmandu from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday. He says he is “drained” with all the running around. Yet the efforts continue.While the remains of the deceased locals have been flown to Narayan Ghat in Chitwan district for their last rites, bodies have been recovered downstream in bordering areas of UP and Bihar as well.With the crucial first 72 hours of rescue ops in any natural disaster about to get over, there are worries if the missing people will survive in case they are trapped in debris. With fresh rains, little or no mobile internet communication and non-motorable roads in many places slowing down search and rescue operations, these are sleepless nights for those looking for their own.

Source: Deccan Herald