Sections of Indian media were sensationalist in their coverage: Deep Kumar Upadhyay

Two weeks after the earthquake, what is the status of the relief operations?
In the case of such largescale devastation, in Nepal, especially in the Himalayan region, the only way we can go is by helicopters to distribute relief material. We have still not been able to reach each and every corner. There have been landslides and avalanches since the earthquake and we have been trying to reach every affected area. The government, with all the support of international organisations, has completed the rescue operations. The remaining work will now be done by our personnel, including the Nepalese Army and police. We are trying to streamline and synchronise distribution of relief material.

What about protests in Nepal that relief material has not been swiftly transported, particularly to rural and remote areas?
There were some cases where swift transportation was not immediately possible due to the terrain. There were also some bottlenecks in the management. Now it is being rectified and swiftly the relief material is being distributed throughout. Hopefully, within a week, everything will be sorted out.

How prompt was the assistance offered by the global community, and India in particular?
Yes, India was kind enough to be proactive. Just an hour after the quake, I got a telephone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then after another hour, from home minister Rajnath Singh. Due to his knowledge and experience, Mr Modi realised that the scale of devastation was large and asked me not to worry, saying the Government of India and he, personally, are fully with the Nepalese government and people. He asked me not to hesitate in contacting his office.

Mr Modi told me this since our Prime Minister was not in Nepal at that time. Mr Modi spoke with our President, Ram Baran Yadav. He instructed the National Disaster Response Force teams to be ready with the necessary equipment, he called a Cabinet meeting at 3 pm and around 4 pm the rescue team was ready for take-off. I then got a call from our Prime Minister, Sushil Koirala and immediately the plane was despatched from New Delhi. This was the response from other countries too and showed what levels of alertness and what kind of a rescue operation should be mounted. For this, we are really thankful to the government and people of India. From all over the world, there were 34 rescue teams.

Nepal has asked international rescue teams to leave and this triggered some controversy. Why was that?
For any rescue operation, it is an international practice to accomplish it in seven to 10 days. When the work is done, the rescue team is supposed to go back. The Nepalese government thanked all the rescue teams from across the world for the great job they had done. They were asked to withdraw and I don’t think this is a new practice. This was as per procedure. We should be positive. There should be no negativity.

Many on social media platforms have been extremely critical of sections of the Indian electronic media, accusing them of not being sensitive in their reporting from the spot on the earthquake. Do you believe some of this criticism was justified?
There should be a humanitarian approach without any negativity. The media should not present it as a horror show. Any such coverage by the media may affect children who are watching. A large number of people were affected by the earthquake. Sections of the Indian media were sensationalist in their coverage and this had a negative impact on Nepalese society. People who lost their families in front of their eyes were being asked again and again how they were feeling about it. It did not look nice. Very humbly we have requested the media to be positive and not to make any sensational or negative news about this.

Do you believe this has fuelled Nepalese insecurities about India’s so-called big-brother approach, or has the tragedy brought the people of the two countries closer?
Nepal is a sovereign country and we were a sovereign country even during the British rule in the subcontinent. India always regards and respects this. There is no problem between the two countries. The relations between the two countries and the people-to-people relations are so good. India and Nepal are also culturally bound — we also believe in the eastern philosophy and are one family. Regarding our two sovereign nations, this is a fact. So this has brought our two countries closer, politically and socially.

What are the long-term and short-term effects on Nepal, particularly on tourism, of the earthquake?
In the short-term we expect advisories to be issued (on travel to Nepal) by some friendly countries. But the situation is being normalised quickly — the power supply has been revived, roads have been cleared, the airport is functioning. The communications network has been restored. The tourism industry has been revived immediately.

There have been frequent and major earthquakes in the past 25 years in South Asia. Do you believe that as part of the Saarc cooperation a comprehensive earthquake response system needs to be developed?
Yes. We (Saarc countries) are in the same seismic zone. That’s why a collective response system needs to be developed. At present, there is only a small mechanism on this. It needs to be strengthened.