Nepal: They don’t want any “leftovers”

Nepal has requested India to not to send any old clothes as part of relief supplies for earthquake victims. India was the among the first countries to respond with a massive relief mission after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake flattened large parts of Nepal on April 25, leaving over 7,000 people dead and countless others homeless.

Nepal’s objection to old clothes came to light recently when the first wagon carrying relief supplies by train, reached the dry port at Birgunj, 10-odd km from Raxaul, India’s last border district in Bihar. Officials said the Nepalese authorities detected a few “objectionable” gunny sacks, amid other relief materials, as part of completing customs formalities in receiving foreign goods. Relief supplies are unloaded at the port from railway cargo vans, re-packaged in some cases and re-loaded on trucks for transportation to different areas of Nepal.

“We now check any consignment of clothes before handing them to Nepal. On May 4, we found brand new towels in one such consignment, which the Nepalese authorities happily received,” said Raghvendra, an IAS probationer, overseeing the operation at the port.

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