Union Home Secretary L.C. Goyal on Saturday confirmed that 34 people have lost their lives in the massive earthquake that hit parts of northern and eastern India, and said the government has deputed five NDRF teams with modern equipments to oversee the rescue operations.
"We have been in constant touch with the affected states to assess the situation. The death toll up to now is three in West Bengal, eight in Uttar Pradesh and 23 in Bihar. In order to deal with the situation in the affected states, we have already sent five teams of NDRF. The government will be deputing ten teams of NDRF in Nepal. More teams could also be sent," said Goyal.
"Each team consists of 45 personnel who are fully equipped with modern equipments, the teams also include medical experts and there are sniffer dogs in these teams. The teams are self contained to deal with all kind of crisis," he said.
"We had a video conference with the chief secretaries of all the states. We have promised all kind of help to their states. We have also activated our control rooms. Besides, we have also set up a control room in the cabinet secretariat to do inter-ministerial coordination to coordinate all efforts for the affected states. There are helpline numbers there as well," Goyal said
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi today chaired a high-level meeting in the national capital to review the situation following the major earthquake in Nepal.
The Prime Minister had earlier spoken to the President and Prime Minister of Nepal as well as the Chief Ministers of the Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh respectively.
Prime Minister Modi has assured Nepal of all assistance in dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake.
The Prime Minister was briefed on the inputs regarding the extent of damage to life and property received so far from various places in India and Nepal.
The Union Government's Crisis Management Committee, which met earlier in the day, would be meeting again later today to chalk out the future strategy.
According to reports, between 600 and 715 people have died in Nepal.
The epicentre of the tremors was said to be in Pokhara, Nepal, with the European Mediterranean Seismological Center stating that the earthquake measured 7.4 on the Richter Scale.
In India, the tremors were felt in Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati and Patna, besides Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
