28 April,2015 08:28 AM IST | | Agencies
Home Secretary L C Goyal confirmed that there have been 73 casualties reported from four states Bihar (57), Uttar Pradesh (12), West Bengal (3) and Rajasthan (1)
Patna: The death toll in Saturday's earthquake yesterday went up to 57 in Bihar, while the number of injured increased to 200, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said. Kumar said that ministers and senior officials have been deployed in the districts to oversee relief work after the quake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit the state on Saturday and also the tropical storm which hit on Tuesday night.
After the tropical storm struck districts of Bihar last Tuesday, the quake rattled the state on Saturday. Pic/PTI
He said the state government would provide Rs 4 lakh compensation to families of the dead and to natives who died in Nepal in the quake. Besides, people of Nepal who had visited relatives in Bihar and died due to the quake would also qualify for the same compensation.
The chief minister said considering the fact that people stranded in Nepal are returning to homelands mainly through Raxual, elaborate arrangements have been put in place there. The district magistrate and superintendent of police are themselves monitoring the relief facilities at Raxual and helping people reach their respective destinations through trains to various places of their choice, he said, adding, food packets and water were being provided to them.
The CM said that 10 buses have been sent to Pokhra to bring stranded people to India through Raxual. Thirty buses would be despatched to Kathmandu soon to carry stranded Indians back home. He said the state government was in regular touch with the Central government with regard to carrying relief work in the state as well extending help to Nepal.
The cabinet secretary talked to the Bihar chief secretary today, besides, state officials are in touch with the external affairs ministry on a regular basis, he said, after holding a review meeting with top officials including Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, DGP P K Thakur, Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Vyas Jee and others. Jee had earlier said that 150 people who had reached Raxual this morning were sent to various destinations by train.
As per the order, all schools and colleges in the state were closed for today and tomorrow as precaution. Powermen of the state are also ready to go to Nepal for help, the CM said. The chief minister also said that survey of damage to crops and dwellings was in process on all accounts including prolonged winter late February, squall in March, tropical storm on April 21 late night and the earthquake on April 25 and subsequent tremors.
NDRF
Meanwhile, Vijay Sinha, Commandant of the 9th battalion of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) based at Bihta in Patna district, said one team of NDRF comprising 45 personnel is stationed at Raxual to extend help to people returning home. Four NDRF battalions are prepared to move to places as directed, he said.
In Darbhanga, around 200 patients have been shifted from Emergency, Surgical and Orthopaedic wards of Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital to other hospitals in the town as the building is old and not in good condition, District Magistrate Kumar Ravi said.
