A major earthquake, which had its epicenter in Nepal, shook Assam and other parts of the North-East India on Saturday even as panic gripped parts of the State as several pilgrims were trapped in Nepal.
Many buildings in Guwahati and other parts of the region have reportedly developed cracks due to the intensity of the quake. Several residential buildings in Assam capital town Guwahati, Barpeta, Morigaon Nalbari and Dhubri districts and in river Island Majuli have developed cracks after the earthquake.
The National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Rescue Force (SDRF) have said that there is no causality reported from anywhere so far. “We are still assessing the damages. However, there is no report of any major damage from across the State,” said Kamrup Deputy Commissioner M Angamuthu, who heads the SDRF.
Panic has, however, gripped many families as several persons from Assam, who had gone to Nepal to offer pilgrimage, remained disconnected to the families till the filing of the report.
People have now urged the Assam Government to make arrangements to depute its officials to rescue the pilgrims, who have been trapped in Nepal.
Although there is no official statistics as to how many pilgrims are trapped in Nepal, unofficial sources said that there are over 40 pilgrims from different areas in Assam, who are in Nepal at present.
“My father had gone to Nepal to offer pilgrims along with a team. I had called him up on his mobile immediately after the quake and he told me that he is safe but the hotel, where he was staying sustained major damage and that some of his team members also got injured,” said popular singer and cultural activist Trishna Devi.
A team leader of the Assam’s mountaineering team, which had left for scaling Mount Everest and is in Nepal now, informed his family members that the whole team is safe and that nothing happened to them.