Action Aid India helps quake-hit Sikkim victims
September 26th, 2011 - 9:02 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Action Aid India, a non-government organisation whose members visited quake-hit Sikkim recently, has said there is need for immediate intervention as basic support is yet to reach some communities.
Banamallika Choudhury, Guwahati programme officer at Action Aid, called the present condition an ‘ongoing crisis’.
“There is need for immediate intervention as some of the communities are yet to be reached with basic support,” she said. “The extensive damage is also likely to create long-term livelihood scarcity and, hence, food security challenges.”
She added that to cater to the immediate needs of the quake victims, the organisation is supplying temporary shelter materials, sleeping mats, torch, candles and water purifying tablets.
At least 78 people died in Sikkim after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake Sep 18 rocked large parts of north, east and northeastern India and neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal.
Road links to Sikkim and the rest of the country remained snapped, with the lifeline to Sikkim, National Highway 31 A, blocked by landslides at seven different locations.
Twenty-five road bridges on the highway connecting Siliguri in West Bengal with Gangtok developed cracks after the tremors.
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- Deaths, destruction as strong quake hits India, Nepal - Sep 19, 2011
- Landslide snaps Siliguri-Sikkim highway link - Jul 20, 2011
- After quake, tour operators get calls from anxious tourists - Sep 20, 2011
- Quake kills six, injures over 100 in north Bengal - Sep 19, 2011
- 42 die in Indian quake, rains hamper relief work - Sep 19, 2011
- Sikkim quake toll reaches 78 - Sep 22, 2011
- Mamata visits Sikkim, meets quake-affected - Sep 20, 2011
- 25 dead in earthquake: Home secretary - Sep 19, 2011
- 35 killed, hundreds injured in Sunday's quake in north, east India - Sep 19, 2011
- Hundreds still stuck in remote villages in Sikkim - Sep 22, 2011
- Quake toll in Sikkim mounts to 68 - Sep 21, 2011
Tags: cracks, food security, government organisation, highway 31, landslides, lifeline, livelihood, magnitude earthquake, neighbouring, New Delhi, northeastern india, quake victims, road bridges, scarcity, security challenges, siliguri, temporary shelter, tremors, water purifying tablets, west bengal