Ten teams of the NDRF have begun full-fledged relief and rescue operations on the third day of the disaster in quake-hit Nepal.

A UAV has also been sent from here for carrying out aerial reconnaissance, officials said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, comprising about 450 trained personnel, have spread across areas including Seetapaila, Maharajganj, Maheshwari, and Gangabhajat, about 10-15 km from the Kathmandu valley.

The force, till now, has rescued 10 people and retrieved 46 bodies from under the rubble of quake-hit buildings after the natural disaster hit the Himalayan nation last Saturday.

NDRF Director-General (DG) O P Singh, who has been camping in the capital city of Kathmandu since yesterday, said a team of his men has also been deployed at Tribhuvan International Airport to assist Indian Embassy officials in the air evacuation of stranded Indians.

He said a “small team” of his personnel are also on their way to Pokhara area, which has been the worst-hit in the fury.

“Our main priority is to go for as many rescue operations as we can. Last night our operations got hit as there were incessant rains and aftershocks of the quake. But, today morning we have started full-fledged operations as the day is sunny and there are no rains,” Singh said.

He said three NDRF teams each are working in Bhaktapur and Kathmandu and two in Lalitpur.

Six more NDRF teams, with 45 personnel in each, are expected to reach the neighbouring country from Bathinda and the Kolkata Indian Air Force (IAF) bases.

Meanwhile, NDRF officials said they recovered some injured people and Rs 26,500 in cash from the rubble of a building near Kathmandu.

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