Nepal Earthquake: Survivors Scrape for food, shelter and services

The Tudikhel grounds in the middle of Kathmandu has quickly morphed from a public park and army parade space to a sprawling encampment full of earthquake survivors, too afraid to return to their homes. Families slept in cramped tents for the fourth night in a row since Saturday’s massive magnitude-7.8 quake, subsisting off limited portions of food and water. Meanwhile, government-provided services were few and far between, if they could be found at all, and only limited help was provided by local private groups.

Private companies and nongovernmental organizations have been the main sources of relief for those camped out at Tudikhel. Dozens of evacuees lined up single-file in a long queue for a modest portion of rice and dal, a common dish made with dried legumes, from a handful of volunteers from Patajuli, a local civil society group.

Any visible government services were minuscule in proportion to the scale of need at Tudikhel. In a camp full of hundreds of people, there were two or three available portable toilets supplied by the government. Many of the survivors sought relief in a chosen spot near the center of the grounds.