The death toll in the powerful earthquake has risen to 44 with 23 people being killed in Sikkim, five in West Bengal, two in Bihar, seven each in Nepal and Tibet even as rescue and relief efforts were today stepped up in the affected areas.
The high-intensity quake rocked large parts of northern and eastern India and eastern region of Nepal just after 6 p.m. on Sunday. It was followed by two strong aftershocks.
Landslides cut off Sikkim
Landslides from the quake have cut off the state from the rest of the country and national highway 31-A has been blocked at eight places, said G. Anandan, district magistrate, Sikkim East.
Around 400 personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and a team of 20 doctors, sent in for rescue and relief operations, have not been able to yet reach the quake-hit areas due to blockade of roads following landslides, officials said today.
Five teams of NDRF consisting of 203 personnel along with necessary rescue equipment, who have been dispatched from Delhi, reached Bagdogra in West Bengal this morning, they said.
"They are still held up at the transit camp in Bagdogra due to landslides which have blocked roads at various places along the highway," a Home Ministry spokesperson said.
Another five teams of NDRF consisting of 200 personnel have left Kolkata. Of them, 100 personnel have arrived at Bagdogra while another 100 personnel were expected to land there shortly.
The damage
About 50 army columns - comprising medical teams, engineer detachments and relief units - in small teams were deployed across Sikkim - where over 200 people have been injured, and at Siliguri and Binaguri towns in West Bengal.
The Sikkim secretariat building in Gangtok also has cracks.
In neighbouring West Bengal, two people died in Siliguri, three in Darjeeling and one in Jalpaiguri district, police said.
Many patients in a nursing home in Siliguri were also injured, North Bengal Affairs Minister Gautam Deb said late on Sunday. The injured figure is said to be over 200.
Power supply was disrupted in areas near Sikkim - at Kalimpong, adjoining Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts. A sub-station was damaged in Siliguri but the supply was restored late on Sunday.
In Jharkhand, the quake left a 70-foot long crack on the NH-75 in Latehar district, disrupting traffic, a government official said.