The Nepal government has sought assistance from the West Bengal government following yesterday’s devastating earthquake and Bengal is rushing a rescue team to the Himalayan kingdom, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Sunday.
Banerjee, who was on way to North Bengal told reporters at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport before leaving for Bagdogra at around 12.45 PM, that the purpose of her visit to Siliguri was to assess the damages caused by Saturday’s tremors.
North Bengal has been worst affected by Saturday’ earthquake accounting for three deaths in Jalpaiguri, Naxalbari and Siliguri. Fifty-five injured have been admitted to the government hospital in Siliguri, Banerjee said. Banerjee said 31 tourists from Bengal were stranded in Nepal and efforts were on to evacuate them to New Delhi and from there to bring them back to the state.
All fifteen mountaineers from the state who were on Mount Everest were safe, the CM said. Replying to a question, the CM said the government would take all measures to assist those who had been affected by the quake.
Referring to the fire at a shopping complex in New Market area, Banerjee said she had instructed the Mayor Sovan Chatterjee to take adequate measures.
Fresh tremors were on Sunday felt in several parts of West Bengal at around 12.40 PM causing panic among the people who ran out of their homes and assembled on the streets.
“The tremor had its epicentre further east of the region in Nepal that witnessed an earthquake yesterday. The magnitude of the earthquake on the Richter Scale is 6.9 and the tremors were felt here in the city and the surrounding areas. We are still waiting for more details,” a senior official of Kolkata Meteorological department told PTI. The tremor was felt in different parts of the city especially in Behala, Garia, Kidderpore, Lake Town, Salt Lake, Dalhousie and Park street areas.
Metro services in the city were temporarily stopped following the tremor, a senior official of Kolkata Metro said. “Mainly because of safety reasons, we have stopped the services. We are running a check whether there is any damage of the tracks or elsewhere. Once that’s complete we will resume the services,” he said. A police official said that they had not received report of any casualty in the city. Tremors were also experienced in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Bankura and East Midnapur districts of the state, reports reaching here said.
PTI