Aftershocks continue

Three days in a row Bangladesh experienced aftershocks of Saturday's devastating earthquake in Nepal.

There were rumours of cracks developing in buildings and actual cracks in buildings that led to evacuations. 

There was panic too.

Dhaka Meteorological office said at 6:35pm yesterday a 5.3 magnitude aftershock hit Siliguri near Bangladesh-India border. The epicentre was only 413km away from Dhaka. 

Meanwhile, an aircraft of Bangladesh Air Force brought back 85 more Bangladeshis from Nepal. 

There were around 100 Bangladeshi families living in Nepal and an unknown number of Bangladeshi tourists in Kathmandu, embassy sources said. 

All Bangladeshis living or staying in Nepal are safe as far as the Bangladesh embassy in Nepal is concerned, Shamshee Binte Shams, the Bangladesh ambassador to Kathmandu, told The Daily Star yesterday. 

“All the Bangladeshis I could reach so far are safe,” she said. 

Cracks had developed in many buildings of educational institutions in the country, including Dhaka. 

A student of Eden Mohila College said cracks were discovered Sunday night in at least 29 rooms of the newly constructed Bangamata Fazilutunnesa dorm. Between 300 and 400 students were moved to other dormitories.

“We have moved students to the other five dormitories as they were panicked by the cracks found in the walls of the rooms,” Prof Hosne Ara, principal of the college, said yesterday evening. 

An expert team of the Ministry of Education visited the dormitory which was opened only two years ago. 

Our correspondents in Patuakhali, Rajshahi University, Moulvibazar, and Dinajpur reported about cracks in buildings of educational institutions there. 

Panicked students of Dinajpur Polytechnic Institute spent a sleepless night as the authorities asked them to vacate Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall around 10:00pm Sunday finding cracks in the building, our Dinajpur correspondent reports.

At least 123 students spent the night in a mosque, the TSC building and under the open sky. 

A team of the Public Works Department had visited the dorm and advised vacating the hall.

At least seven cracks were discovered in an under-construction building of Motihar Hall in Rajshahi University, our Rajshahi University correspondent reports.

Students formed a human chain in front of the dorm claiming that the authorities had been using low-quality construction materials. 
The Pathantula campus of Scholars Home School in Sylhet city was closed for a day after parents of students complained that the school was kept open despite cracks in the building, reports our correspondent there. 

Meanwhile, the High Court yesterday directed the government to submit to it a report by May 12 on the rescue equipment necessary for saving lives in case an earthquake occurs.

The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman passed the order following an application filed by Supreme Court lawyer Manzill Murshid.

Murshid told the court that Bangladesh was in danger of being hit by earthquakes and rescue equipment should be collected for saving lives.

He also reminded the court of the July 29, 2009, order it had issued to the government to collect necessary rescue equipment.