Logistics problems hampering Nepal aid operations: German group

Even as international aid is pouring in quake-hit Nepal, logistical problems are presenting the biggest challenge for aid operations as only aeroplanes with a total landing weight of 190 tonnes are permitted to land at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), a German private aid organisation said on Thursday.

According to Welthungerhilfe, despite only small cargo planes carrying aid and relief cargo being able to land at the Himalayan nation's only international airport, lack of storage capacity was posing a huge challenge to the relief operations.

"We know from other disasters how frustrating it is when the distribution of aid supplies takes such a long time. But it isn't sufficient just to fly everything to Kathmandu, there is a lack of storage capacity and trucks to be able to reach remote regions," the organisation's emergency response coordinator in Nepal Ruediger Ehrler said in a statement.

As per the relief organisation, since the evening of April 26, the first coordination meetings between aid organisations, the United Nations and the government have been taking place in Kathmandu, covering the areas of health, water supply, reconstruction and food security.

"All participants are pulling together and know that every day counts and that many of those affected have not yet received any help. In a country with such problems of access, supplying 1.4 million people with food is a logistical Herculean task," Ehrler said.

Nepal on Thursday stopped allowing unscheduled relief flights by Indian commercial airlines as the huge amount of relief and rescue material was causing clogging at TIA here.