Bus service supplement air evacuation of Indians from Nepal
According to media reports, nearly 100 buses of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation are queued up at the bus stand, and luggage is being loaded on them, batch by batch.
A first batch of five buses, carrying hundreds of Indians, left for Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday morning while another batch left for Bihar in the afternoon, reports quoted Indian envoy in Nepal, Ranjit Rae as saying.
Rae is supervising the evacuation.
"Since air evacuation is limited, we have arranged for the buses. The priority is to facilitate the return of tourists, women, children and the elderly," Rae told NDTV.
Thousands of people are still waiting anxiously to board one of the home-bound buses, some squatting at the depot.
The bus service follows the evacuation of 2500 Indians done on military aircraft, helicopters and commercial flights.
India has also participated in a massive relief and rescue operation in Nepal, sending food, blankets, water packets and medical teams.
It has deployed more than 15 military aircraft in Nepal.
A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday last killing people and razing structures to the ground.
While 4300 bodies have so far been recovered, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said the toll could mount to the 10,000-mark.
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