@Kiva And The Nepal Earthquake http://t.co/G0A5vZWaNQ
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) May 15, 2015
"It's the same government as last year, so I have very little hope that things will be different," said Mangale Tamang, 56, a former Jure resident who was sleeping Sunday morning in a lean-to by the side of a dust-choked highway where his village once stood. ............ in the recent past, the government has struggled to compensate victims of natural disasters far smaller than the temblor that has left more than 7,250 dead and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. ...... a peculiar system of government sprung from a failure to hold local elections in nearly 20 years. All decisions must go through a few top officials in the capital, Katmandu, and committees that manage local affairs are appointed by national political parties, which the Nepalese say makes them less accountable to the people. ........ The country's auditor general reported in March that government agencies had spent just one-fifth of their budget because of "political influence while selecting projects, lack of regular follow-up of project implementation, poor participation of users and collusion between contractors and government officials." ...... The government also aims to collect $2 billion for a national reconstruction fund to rebuild shattered infrastructure. ...... After the Jure disaster, officials paid $1,000 to families that lost their homes and $400 to those that lost a relative. But villagers say they have not seen any money from a $220,000 Jure Landslide Relief Fund created to help families get back on their feet. ...... A report last month in the Nepal News website said the funds, raised mainly through private donations, were sitting in a government account because the Home Affairs Ministry had not given permission for them to be disbursed. ...... A few miles up the winding highway in Chautara, the devastated seat of Sindhupalchowk district, residents said they had not seen any assistance from the local government in the eight days since the quake. More than 2,000 people have died in the district east of the capital, the highest death toll in the country, but residents said they had not heard from Gyawali, the top local official. ........ "Of course the foreigners are helping and aid is coming into the country, but they're not the ones handing it out to the people," shopkeeper Sher Bahadur Thapa said. "They give it to the district and the ward officials, and that's where it goes missing. It's the needy people who suffer."
CHAUTARA, Nepal—Cries of anger rose above the din of military helicopters and wails of the injured, as men banged their fists on the metal gate outside the town’s government offices. But it was fruitless: Local officials had fled the building shortly after Nepal’s earthquake, leaving the windows open and a truck—its windshield smashed by the crowd, creating a spiderweb-shaped crack in the glass—parked outside. ....... The Nepali prime minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, set up explicitly for the earthquake, reported on Friday that it had raised $1.5 million but only distributed 1 percent of that money so far ..... Foreign aid agencies have complained of severe delays in getting their cargo planes into the country’s sole and tiny international airport. ..... “Why do you think we’re in charge here?” a Nepalese Army sergeant, wearing camouflage and a black facemask to ward off disease, asked me in Chautara. “We’re managing this to prevent violence against the government,” said the sergeant ....... The stench of a large, communal toilet wafted over us. .... Though Chautara, a town of roughly 4,000 people, is only 25 miles northeast of Kathmandu, the drive now involves three hours of negotiating thick mud, since most of its crag-hugging roads have been destroyed. In the town itself, whole floors of brick buildings were ripped away; on the third floor of one house, a family’s framed pictures of their children hung on an exposed yellow wall, beside a neatly stacked pile of shoes. The town had so many cracks and clusters of detritus that the rare, untouched building seemed improper, almost impertinent. ....... When I visited, Rachana Sahi, 25, was digging for salvageable belongings through the heap that had been her family home. “Sure, the government will help us,” she hissed, dragging out a dust-covered rug. “Once we’re dead.” ..... the earthquake shows just how vital it is to have political institutions that work, both at the center and, even more importantly, at the local level ...... “Anger does not do justice to my feelings at the moment,” he said brusquely between drilling. Villagers gathered to watch. Around them lay the debris of lives interrupted by cracked earth: a fake pearl bracelet, a TV remote, a computer screen, a submerged motorcycle. Under the surrounding cliffs, viridian wheat fields were almost ready for harvesting—cold comfort for the people of Chautara.
मुख्यसचिव पौडेले जिल्ला तहमा राजनीतिक नेतृत्व अन्योलमा रहेको बताए । उनले भने-‘राजनीतिक रुपमा जिल्ला तहका मान्छेहरुले मेरो निर्वाचन क्षेत्र, मेरो भोटरको क्षेत्रमा मैले धेरै राहत लिएर जानुपर्छ भनेर तानातान गरेपछि कर्मचारी साथीहरुले सबैभन्दा बढी डिस्ट्रेस फिल गरेका छन् ।’ ...... सुरुमा आफूहरुले एकद्वार प्रणाली भन्दा सरकारमाथि सबैतिरबाट आक्रमण भएको र अहिले फेरि संयोजन भएन भनेर आलोचना भएको उनको गुनासो थियो । ....... पौडेलले भने-एकद्वार प्रणालीबाट लैजानुपर्यो भन्नासाथ सिभिल सोसाइटी, मिडिया, अन्तराष्ट्रिय समुदायबाट यति धेरै सरकारप्रति आक्रमक भएर आयो कि त्यसको प्रतिरक्षा गर्दागर्दै आफ्नो काम गर्ने धेरै ठूलो श्रोत र साधन त्यतातिर डाइभर्ट भयो ।’ ...... सबैले आफू हिरो हुन खोजेको भन्दै उनले इगो त्याग गर्न सुझाव समेत दिएका छन् । सरकारले ४ अर्ब निकासा गरिसकेको र ४ अर्ब बाँकी रहेको भन्दै मुख्यसचिव पौडेलले भने-‘कुनै पनि संस्थाले अहिले ८ अर्ब रुपैयाँ लिएर त राहत बाँड्न जाँदैन । अनि अरुले गरेको काम भनेको त सानो सानो टुक्रा मात्र हो । तर, प्रचार त्यसैको भइरहेको छ ।’ ....... सरकारले १३०० पटक हेलिकोप्टर उडाएको र १७ हजार मान्छेलाई उपचार गरेको भन्दै उनले भने-‘कुनै एनजीओको बँुताको विषय हो र ? त्यही सघाउन आउनुभन्दा सबैलाई आफैं माइबाप हुनु पर्ने, सबैले आफूले गरेको कामको प्रचार हुनुपर्ने, सबै जान्ने हुनुपर्ने । सबै विज्ञ हुनु पर्ने । यो प्रवृत्तिलाई त्यागेनौं भने भोलि अर्को विपत आउँछ ।’..... मुख्य सचिव पौडेलले सरकारी संयन्त्रमा रहेकाहरुबाट पनि कमजोरी भएको स्वीकार गरे । ‘भित्रै पनि साथीहरुलाई यो कसको अधिकार हो ? कानूनमा के लेखेको छ ? यो मैले गर्ने कि तैले गर्ने । मैले जस लिने भन्ने कल्चर हामीभित्र पनि आयो’ उनले भने-‘हामी पनि यही समाजका हौं ।’
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| English: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee attends a news conference in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata September 7, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| English: Top leaders of Nepali Congress –spokesperson Arjun Narsingh KC, vice presidents Prakash Man Singh and Ram Chandra Paudel and acting president Sushil Koirala—during the Central Working Committee meeting held at its central office in Sanepa, Lalitpur on Wednesday, September 15, 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Politicians in parliament fled from their seats. In remote villages, houses that were already wobbling collapsed for good this time. Mountains cracked and slid. ..... In Washington, officials said a U.S. Marine helicopter went missing Tuesday during a mission to provide assistance after the latest quake ..... Nepali police appealed on Twitter for residents to stay outside in the open, but off the roads and off their telephones. ...... Overwhelmed hospitals would be again treating patients outside in tents for fear of aftershocks, even critically ill patients. ...... At Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Baburam Tamang, 40, a day laborer, writhed on the floor, crying. Both his legs were badly fractured. He had been working to repair a roof on a house in Bhaktapur, the damaged temple town not far from Kathmandu, when the quake hit, trapping him under wood and bricks. “Suddenly the quake came and I fell down from the second floor,” he said. “I thought . . . I may die there.” ....... “My future is gone,” Tamang said, weeping. “ I may not be able to work again.” ..... Now the most wide-ranging relief effort in the country’s history has been stopped in its tracks. ..... The country’s military rescue operations will run parallel with relief operations, according to Khagaraj Adhikari, Nepal’s minister of health and population. Many foreign rescue teams had already left the country, he said, but the Nepali government would ask those remaining to stay until the new crisis has passed. ...... Jennifer Hardy, 33, a worker for Catholic Relief Services based in Baltimore, said she was helping hand out tarpaulins and hygiene kits in a remote village in the hard-hit Ghorka area when the quake hit just after lunchtime. “People started immediately crying, even though we were in a big open area,” she said. She clutched an elderly grandmother for support. Around them, the leaves of mango trees began to fall like snow.............. Things worsened when the villagers began to hear the rumbling and collapsing of nearby buildings, then could not reach family members on jammed phone lines, Hardy said. “That was almost more stressful than the earthquake itself. It was heartbreaking to see them so distressed. They kept crying and crying for hours” ......... In Tuesday’s chaos, many aid workers were feared trapped. Nichola Jones, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Nepal, said a Canadian medical team was trapped in the Tatopani area, close to the quake’s epicenter. Team members reported that a nearby mountain had dissolved into a rocky landslide, leaving them miraculously alive and covered in dust, but essentially stranded. .. The rainy season is fast approaching, and landslides will be constant concern. ....... The reverberations were felt hundreds of miles away in New Delhi, Bangladesh and Tibet.I survived another nerve-rattling Nepal quake
For about a week, Kathmandu had tried hard to seem normal. Shops and many restaurants reopened and everyone went back to work. City traffic was picking up and people were trying hard to go back to their old routine. Yes, there have been scores of aftershocks. Morning greetings usually started with, "Did you feel that big one?" ....... I wanted to join them but John grabbed my hand. We stood there, holding onto each other, legs splayed for better balance against the slow rolling sway that ebbed and flowed. It seemed to come to an end but then started again. John pulled me back and reminded me that the staircase led to a narrow alleyway with high walls on both sides. So we stayed and hugged. ...... Like April 25, when a more powerful 7.8-magnitude quake hit, this one seemed to go on and on. In fact, it lasted about 25 seconds. ..... This is a city and nation on edge. Like everyone else, my heart was pounding, my mind racing as I tried to figure out what I should do next. I left my husband at his office and drove, or rather inched along in a traffic jam trying to get out of downtown. ......... Phone lines also were jammed, so my calls weren't going through, nor was I able to access Facebook, which had helped so many of us connect after the last quake. I switched to Twitter, through which I tracked down friends and relatives. ...... Many Nepalis in hard-hit areas who had returned to their homes or to open their shops near damaged buildings died on Tuesday. ....... It has been raining every night now. Hard pounding rain. Hours of thunder and lightning. The rains mean many more landslides throughout eastern Nepal ........ If there is a light at the end of this tunnel, it is by coincidence.Another Deadly Earthquake Spreads Fear and Misery in Nepal
Nepal's government on Monday asked all foreign military providing relief to leave in the next few weeks. Luckily, they are still here: Indians with helicopters and the U.S. Marines with four Osprey helicopters to bring in aid where roads have disappeared.
Tuesday's magnitude-7.3 quake, centered midway between Kathmandu and Mount Everest, struck hardest in the foothills of the Himalayas, triggering some landslides, but it also shook the capital badly, sending thousands of terrified people into the streets. ...... Nepal's Parliament was in session when the quake hit, and frightened lawmakers ran for the exits as the building shook and the lights flickered out. ..... Tuesday's temblor was deeper, however, coming from a depth of 18.5 kilometers (11.5 miles) versus the earlier one at 15 kilometers (9.3 miles). Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage. ....... Tuesday's quake was followed closely by at least 10 strong aftershocks ..... the earlier quake caused extensive structural damage even in buildings that did not topple, and that many could be in danger of collapse. ...... "Everyone was saying the earthquakes are over. ... Now I don't want to believe anyone" ....... "We are all scared, we are terrified. I would rather deal with mosquitoes and the rain than sleep in the house." ..... saw a man in Kathmandu who had apparently run from the shower with shampoo covering his head. "He was sitting on the ground, crying"Magnitude 7.4 quake strikes in Nepal: USGS
Even those of us who have known natural disasters—the yearly floods and landslides, for instance—as things that only happen to other people, even the most sheltered among us, are reeling from the shock. In some ways, we are living through a collective, all-encompassing tragedy. ...... I, for instance, am among those who did not suffer even a fraction of the damage others did in and outside Kathmandu. None of my friends lost their loved ones or got seriously injured. The quake knocked down the boundary walls that guarded our homes and gardens. Some of our walls have cracks and our water tanks broke. But our houses did not collapse and bury us. The disaster did not strip us of our livelihoods or make us homeless. We will resume our normal lives once we repair the damages or move house. Some of us already have. Hearteningly, many of us have taken on the necessary but not unprivileged role of fundraisers, volunteers, relief providers, and interpreters of other people’s suffering. ....... Hira Maharjan, who drives my friend’s family car, fled from his crumbling house with nothing but the clothes on his back; his belongings remain buried in rubble in a wrecked locality in Thaiba. His neighbour, a daily wageworker, committed suicide two days after his tiny house fell apart. Laxmi Tamang, our household help, lost her friends and fellow Christians, all migrants from east Nepal, when the building that housed a church in Sukedhara collapsed, killing 26 people. ........ In Badegaun VDC of Sindhupalchowk district, all the houses made of mud and stones have been reduced to rubble, killing 160 people. Many villagers speak of their tragedy in a disquietingly matter-of-fact tone. Shyamsaran Gautam recounts the death of his child and the death of his buffalo in the same breath; one of his children is gone but the buffalo might have helped him feed the remaining ones. Bharat Nepali, who recently pulled his daughter’s body from the debris of his house, eagerly asks me to note down the deceased’s name—in the hope that the government authorities in Kathmandu might read my report and provide him compensation. Bimala Katwal, a young mother of six huddles under a tin roof retrieved from a neighbour’s broken home. Her husband, a migrant worker, was killed in India a few years ago. “I wish he hadn’t died,” she says wearily. “I wonder who killed him and why.” ........ In the next village I pass through, a teenage girl has lost her youngest sibling. She mechanically describes how her sister was killed despite hiding under a bed, and then asks with a tentative smile, “Would you know when the government is sending us relief?” ..... they are so oppressed by questions of immediate survival that brooding over their loss is a luxury they can barely afford. Or it is a sign of resilience.भूकम्पको प्रभाव चीनदेखि बंगलादेशसम्म, भारतमा १० जनाको निधन
An enormous gulf separates us and I cannot fully grasp their condition.
........ “Things weren’t very different for us before the earthquake,” says Binda BK, a young mother in a Dalit settlement in Kalyanpur-5, Nuwakot. .. Like every other family in the settlement, they are burdened with high-interest loans taken from high-caste moneylenders. ....... When a few bags of rations are left over after distribution, they ask us to give them to Dalit families: “Let them have it, they have nothing.” ........ there is no such thing as a ‘natural’ disaster. The earthquake devastated their homes because they could not afford strong houses. They have nothing left now because they never had much to begin with. The disaster has ruined their livelihoods and threatened their survival because they were already living in extremely precarious conditions. It is not the earthquake, but enforced poverty and systematic exclusion that has crushed these people. Those of us who escaped unscathed are complicit in their suffering one way or the other. It is admirable that many of us are tirelessly working to bring relief to those hardest hit by the earthquake. But that should not allow us to thump our chests and rail against anyone who reminds us of the deeper causes of this tragedy. ........... more than 8,000 people, most of them marginalised, have paid with their lives to remind us again: the longer lasting disaster Nepalis suffer from is the exclusionary nature of the Nepali state. Their acute vulnerability is a result of the entrenched inequalities of class, caste, and region that have benefited a small section of our society. Rebuilding Nepal does not mean rebuilding the feudal state ......Local elites opposed to any structural change, and outsiders gearing up to start a disaster industry
in Kathmandu, should heed the wake-up call.
another 1,261 people have been injured. Thirty-two of the Asian nation's 75 districts were affected. ...... Just over two weeks after thousands died in a mammoth earthquake, Nepal got hit hard again Tuesday -- with another powerful tremor that has left dozens more dead, more than 1,000 injured and questions about what's next for the already traumatized Asian nation. ...... "For the first seconds, it was complete silence. By the fifth second, everybody started to scream" ..... "It was really, really intense. Even when the shaking stopped, people were still screaming. They were completely panicked, because they knew exactly what it was." .....१९९० सालको महाभूकम्पको बयान
That earlier tremor was also more than three times bigger and 5.6 times stronger, in terms of energy released
..... It was "like the whole Earth was alive" ...... Open space is often a precious commodity in Kathmandu, but especially on Tuesday. The city's roads quickly clogged with people, many of them crying ..... "People are very scared" ..... "You never get used to seeing telephone poles swaying and surfing past you," he told CNN. "Or buildings just wobbling ... as the earth moves beneath your feet." .....Expert: More aftershocks likely ...... The fact such a big quake hit so soon after the one last month is proof that another one -- perhaps bigger, perhaps smaller -- could come at any time. To drive home this point, residents in the region dealt with a number of powerful aftershocks, including one at magnitude 6.3 about a half hour after the initial quake.
...... warning ofdangerous landslides as monsoon season approaches
. "Every time it crashes, the Earth moves. Every time it shakes, there's strain." ..... "I don't think people were more prepared this time; people really felt like (the threat) was gone," Adhikari said. "Now they are more frightened."
ठीक २ बजी २४ मिनेट २२ सेकेन्ड जाँदा अकस्मात् जमिनभित्रबाट गुडगुडे आवाज आयो र साथसाथै भूकम्प सुरु भयो- २ माघ १९९० को महाभुइँचालो उत्पत्ति भयो । यो जमिनको अपूर्व आवाजले गर्दा भूकम्प हो भन्ने ख्याल झट्ट चढ्न सकेन । पानीको लहरीझैँ जमिनमा लहरी चल्यो । पहिलो अवस्थामा भूकम्पको वेग पूर्वबाट पश्चिम गएको अनुमान गरियो । दोस्रो अवस्थामा जमिन चक्कर खाई बटारिन थाल्यो र सोही वेगमा धेरैजसो घर इमारत लड्न गए । एक बिजुलीबत्तीको ग्लुपसमेत त्यसको सकेटबाट बाहिर उछिट्टएिको देखियो । जमिन कस्तो जोडले काँपेछ भने रूख, बोट हुरीमा परेझैँ लच्के । साना-साना बोटका टुप्पाले जमिन छोला-छोलाजस्तो भयो ।
पोखरीको वा भाँडामा राखिएको पानी बाहिर फ्याँकियो । पोखरीका पानी ठूला-ठूला छालझैँ उछिट्टनि लाग्यो । घरको गाहारा हुरीमा ढोकाझैँ खुल्ने र बन्द हुने गर्न लागे । जमिन तल र माथि गर्दा धमाधम घर लड्न थाले । अग्लाअग्ला पुर्जा गजुर पनि खसे । तोपको बढाइँझैँ घर भत्केको भयंकर आवाज आउन थाल्यो । धूलोले गर्दा अन्धकार भयो । आठ-दस हात अगाडि पनि देखिन नसक्ने भयो । सहरको धूलाले गर्दा टुँडिखेलजस्ता खुला जग्गामा पनि धूलोको कुइरीमण्डल हुन थाल्यो ।
सबै मानिस खुला जग्गातिर भाग्न थाले । कोही अड्न नसकी केही चीजको भर लिई ठाडो रहे, कोही चार हातखुट्टा टेकी चौपायाझैँ भाग्न थाले । कोही छिँडीमा लुके, कोही चोकमा दौडे, औ कोही बारीतिर कुदे कहीँ कहीँ आमाहरू आफू खुलामा आइसकेपछि छोराछोरीको मायाले घरभित्र पस्न जाँदा मृत्युको मुखमा परे । धूलोले अन्धो पारे तापनि अतासले गर्दा सबै मानिस दौडिन थाले । साथसाथै सबले अतासमा ईश्वरको नाम लिई कराउन थाले र चारैतर्फबाट शब्द निस्कन थाल्यो । सो शब्दघर भत्केको आवाजसँग मिल्दा कस्तो भयंकर आवाज आयो होला, विचार गर्नुहोस् । खास गरी स्त्रीहरू धेरै जस्ताले धर्म हुन्छ भन्ने विचारले भाग्ने कोसिस नगरी पानी भर्ने वा औँलाले जमिन छुनेजस्ता रकम-रकममा काम गरे । तर, भाग्ने मानिसले पनि सुख पाएनन् । सहरका ससाना सडक र गल्लीहरू धराप बन्न गए । हजारौँ घरले थिचिई मृत्युको गाँसमा परे । हजारौँ घाइते भए, टुँडिखेलमा कवाज खेलिरहेका सिपाहीहरू उभिन नसकी धेरै जस्ता जमिनमा घोप्टो परे, पूर्वको १ खण्ड जमिन फाटिन गई पानीसमेत निक्लिन गयो ।
सोही बखत धरहरा र घन्टाघर दुवै करौँतीले काटेका रूखझैँ चिराचिरा पर्न गई दुई-तीन टुक्रा भई ढले । धरहराका टुक्राहरू त्यसको पर्खालको चक्काभित्रै परे । अरू घर-इमारत पनि त्यस्तै किसिमले ढलेका थिए ।
खेत र सडक चिराचिरा परेका ठाउँबाट पानी निस्कन थाल्यो । सबै खोलानालामा बाढी आयो । वाग्मती, विष्णुमतीलगायत खोला छिनभरमै कालो र मैलो पानीले ढाकिए । कुनै ठाउँमा ८-१० हात माथिसम्म पानी फोहोरझैँ जमिनबाट फुटी आयो । धेरै जस्ता खेत पानीले जलथल भए । जमिन फाँटिदा तातोपानी र बालुवासमेत बाहिर आएको देखियो । बालाजू र शंखमूल नजिकमा सडक ठाउँ ठाउँमा एक-दुई हातसम्म भासिन गए । चिरान परेका ठाउँको गहिराइ ९-५० हातसम्म पनि हुन गयो, लम्बाइको त कुरै छाडून् ।
भूकम्प बन्द हुनासाथ सबै नातापाताको खोजतलासमा लागे । बेपत्ता भएकाहरूको नाम पुकार्दै सडकमा दौडन थाले ।
आ-आफ्ना घरतिर दौडन थाले । आफ्ना नाता पुरिएकाहरूले सकी-नसकी घरको रासन खोस्रन थाले । सबै आ-आफ्नै नाताहरूको खोजतलासमा लागेकाले मद्दत पाउन कठिन भयो । घरको रासबाट बाँचेकाहरूको स्वर पनि सुनिन्थ्यो, परन्तु झिक्ने पूरा सामथ्र्य भएन । यस्ताका नाताको दिल कस्तो भयो हो, कल्पना गर्न सकिँदैन ।
यस्ता मानिस पल्टन भएका ठाउँमा अथवा काठमाडौँको टुँडिखेलमा आई कराउन थाले । एकैछिनमा सबै खुला ठाउँमा यी आत्तिएका स्त्री-पुरुषहरूले भरिए । केही बेरमै चिफसाहेब, लाठसाहेब र अरू जर्नेल अफिसर जम्मा भए । पहिलो काम त्यहाँ जम्मा भएका सिपाही फौजलाई उत्साह र आधार दिने भयो । त्यसपछि तिनीहरूलाई ठाउँ ठाउँमा पठाउने काम गरियो ।
श्री ५ का छोरी मैयाँ दुई र श्री ३ की नातिनी मैयाँ मरेको खबर त्यहीँ आयो । सिपाहीको गठ-गठ गरी सहर र दरबारमा पुरिएका मानिस झिक्न खटनपठन भयो । तिनीहरू गई सहरमा धेरै पुरिएकालाई बचाइदिए । आफ्ना घरजहान सम्झी मनमा कस्तो ताप परेको हुँदो हो तापनि पल्टनिया जवानहरू आफ्ना कर्तव्यको सोझो रहे । खटाइएका ठाउँमा केही गाह्रो नमानी गए- यस्तो देख्दा खुसी पनि लाग्यो । दया पनि उठ्यो ।
त्यस बखत तीन सहरमा करिब ९ हजार ५ सय सिपाही थिए । घाइतेका साथै अरू सहरका बासिन्दाले अस्पतालको कम्पाउन्ड ढाक्यो । कोही आमा आफ्ना मरेका छोराछोरीलाई हातमा लिई बाँचेका छन् कि भन्ने आशाले डाक्टरलाई देखाउन आएको अपसोची दृश्य पनि देखिन्थ्यो । त्यस बेला अस्पतालको तैनाथवाला भएकाले घाइतेलाई औषधी पुर्याउने काम मलाई पर्न आयो । त्यस बखत सहरभित्र कोही-कोही सज्जनले दु:खी घाइतेको स्याहार-सम्भार गरे तापनि धेरैजसो अत्यासले होसहीन भई बसिरहे ।
श्री ५ महाराजाधिराजको सवारी त्यस बखत नागार्जुनमा थियो । केही बेरका लागि त्यहाँबाट आफ्ना नारायणहिटी दरबारमा सवारी भई- विष्णुमतीको पुल भत्केकाले छाउनीको बाटो गरी नागार्जुन फिर्यो । चलनबमोजिम छाउनी पास गरिबक्सँदा एक तोपको सलामी दिए । नागार्जुन दरबार पनि भत्केकाले पालमै राज भयो ।
सहरका कोही घर र दरबारमा समेत भत्केका घरका काठपात आगामा पर्दा आगलागी हुन गयो तर हावाको जोर पनि कम भएकाले सम्हाल्न सके । खोकनाको तेल पेल्ने ठाउँमा पनि आगलागी भयो तर फिँजिन पाएन । फर्पिङको मुख्य बिजुलीघरमा भूकम्प हुँदा आफसेआफ कल बन्द हुन गयो । आगलागी नहुनु एक भाग्यको कुरा सम्झनुपर्छ । त्यस बखतको अवस्थामा तपसिलको एक बयानबाट राम्रोसँग अनजाम गर्न सकिन्छ ।
होस-हतास हराएको दुई मिनेटपछि आँखा खोलेर हेर्दा चारैतिर प्रलयको दृश्य, प्रलयको कोकोहोलो स्वरले चिच्याउन र कराउन लागेको देखियो, सुनियो । मानिसको ता के कुरो मानिसका शरणमा परेका चराचुरुंगी पनि च्याँच्याँ र चँुचुँ गरेर आकासमा कराउन लागेका थिए । मुसोजस्तो छरितो जन्तुले पनि भाग्ने मौका पाएन, जहाँको तहीँ थिचिएर मर्नुपर्यो ।
छोराको सबै शरीर किचिरहेछ, मुख पक्कपक्क बाएको इँटका अन्तरबाट अलिअलि देखिन्छ आ...मा... भनेको मलिन आवाज अलिअलि सुनिन्छ, इँट-काठ पन्छाएर छोरो झिक्ने मद्दत पुग्दैन । यस्तो अवस्थामा त्यस अभागिनी आमाको तस्बिर खिच्नुहोस्, जहानमा ११ जना थिए, सबै किचिएर मरे, एउटा पाँच वर्षको बालक बाँच्यो । यो टुहुरोको सम्झना गर्नुहोस् । विवाह गरेको वर्ष दिन पनि भएको छैन, १५ वर्षकी बाहुनी विधवा भई, यसले छाती पिटीपिटी रोएको करुण क्रन्दनको विचार गर्नुहोस् ! जहानमा कसैको टाउको फुटेको छ, कसैको हात भाँच्चिएको छ । कुनै बेपत्ता छन् । कसैलाई खोस्रेर झिक्दै छन् । कसैलाई पोल्न लगिसके । घ्याम्पो फुट्यो, अन्नको गेडो छैन । घरमा मुर्दा लडिरहेछ । कात्रो किन्न जाने पसल छैन । दाउरा किन्ने पैसा छैन । घर भत्केका काठपातले मुर्दा पोलिए । बाबु मर्यो, छोराले किरिया गर्नलाई कपाल खौरन छुरा पाएन । पुरेत बाजेसँग किरिया गराउने पुस्तक छैन । घरले किचिएको छ वा कहाँ छ पत्तो छैन । किरियापुत्रीले नयाँ धोती नपाएर पुरानो पटुका फेरेर किरिया बस्नुपर्यो । सारा सहर भत्क्यो, पसल भत्के केही किन्न पाइँदैन । रात पर्यो, माघे झरी पर्ने डर छ, ओत छैन ।
लास जलाउनलाई दाउरा नपाउँदा धेरैले भत्केका घरको काठले जलाए । सबै घाटमा ठेलमठेल भयो । मुर्दाको सत्गत् गर्न नसक्नेहरूले घाटमा मुर्दाहरू त्यसै फ्याँक्न थाले, गाईवस्तुको कुरै छोड्नु । वीरगन्जसम्मको एक्लो टेलिफोन लाइन पनि टुट्न गएको र चारैतिर नोक्सान पर्न गएकाले बाहिरको खबर लिई घोडचढी गए । बाटो बिग्रेकाले भादगाउँ र वरिपरि गाउँको खबर पाउन पनि कठिन भयो । केही गोलमाल वा चोरीको बचाउलाई कौसी -सरकारी ढुकुटी) झेलखाना, तोपखाना र ठूलठूला दरबारमा पालो थप गरियो । खोरका थुनुवाहरू भाग्न कोसिस गरेकामा सिपाहीको मद्दतले भाग्न सकेनन् । हिउँदको छोटो दिन-रात चाँडै पर्यो तर बिजुलीबत्ती आएन । आफ्ना नातेदारको खबर लिन पनि फुर्सद भएन ।
स-साना कम्पनहरू रातभर गइरहे । तिनको गन्ती भएन । ठूलादेखि सानासम्म सबैका खेतबारी या खुला मैदानमा बास भयो । हजारौँले ओत नपाई खुला मैदानमा बसे । त्यस रातमा खान पनि थोरैले मात्र पाए । पानी जम्न थाल्यो । त्यो रात जरोको निद्राझैँ बित्यो ।
भोलिपल्ट पुरिएका मानिस र मुर्दा झिक्ने काममा मद्दत दिन सिपाहीलाई ठाउँ-ठाउँमा पठाए । धेरै जिउँदा मानिस निस्के । एकै ठाउँमा ४०-५० जनासम्म पुरिए । अफिसरहरू गाउँगाउँमा बुझ्न गए ।
'म घुमेका ठाउँमध्ये सानागाउँ र लुभु सहरको दृश्य अन्तको भन्दा हृदयविदारक छ । १५००-२००० छाना अघि जुन ठाउँमा थिए, आज त्यही ठाउँमा चार-पाँचवटा छाना पनि देखिँदैन । अघिको झिँगटीका छानाले भरिभराउ भएको बस्ती अहिले पटपटी फुटेको नांगो डाँडो देखिइरहेछ ।'
वीरगन्जसम्मको टेलिफोनको लाइन भोलिपल्टै खुल्यो । परन्तु, रक्सौलभन्दा परको खबर केही पाइएन । वीरगन्ज स्वाहा भएको छ । रक्सौलदेखि माथिसम्म रेल लाइन टुटेको छ । नेपाल सरकार लाइट रेलवेमा पनि नोक्सान पर्न गएको छ । तारको खुट्टा टुटेकाले हिन्दुस्तानपट्टकिो केही खबर छैन ।
महाभूकम्प गएको दिनैदेखि हररोज साना-साना भूकम्प जान थाले । ४ माघ राती अर्को निकै ठूलो कम्प गयो । आत्तिएका दुनियाँमा झन् हतास बढ्न गयो । तीन-चार दिनसम्म यस्तो कोलाहल बराबर चलिरह्यो । पछि-पछि यस्तो कराउने कम हुँदै गयो । दुनियाँलाई भूकम्पमा बानी पर्न गयो ।
