What Nepal needs most as it grapples with nature’s unrelenting fury is monetary aid — billions of dollars to reconstruct cities, towns and villages, with estimates likely to rise further after Tuesday’s terrifying earthquake killed close to 100 people, injured more than 2,000 and brought down countless buildings that had barely survived the bigger temblor of April 25.
If India has been wary of springing to Nepal’s aid this time out, it can be put down to the fierce reaction from Nepal’s Twittterati who were severely critical of the Indian television coverage that made disaster rescue work seem like charity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to put rescue teams on standby while word was awaited from Nepal may, on the face of it, seem odd when a neighbour is suffering untold misery. But it has to be weighed against the background of the Indian visual media running amok and besmirching a genuine rescue programme.
Nepal still needs medical experts to tend to the wounded whose numbers have swelled after the second big quake. It needs helicopters to ferry food and temporary shelters to people who have left homes weakened by aftershocks. The number of people affected by the May 12 deep temblor is estimated to be only 65,000 against the 1.5 million people of April 25. However, what must be understood is that these people have lost confidence in life and need shelters where they can spend their nights because rain continues to pour more misery on them. The best India can do now is to offer substantial financial aid and send medical personnel.
