The whole town has been flattened and an estimated 4,000 people have died from an original population of about 25,000. Fragments of a world destroyed remain. Only one wall of the town's cinema is left standing. The silver screen hangs limply from it, torn and flapping in the breeze. The cinema was Bachhau's favourite escape from the daily grind, now leaving town is the only release.
Some survivors have nowhere else to go.
Babul Rajput and his brother Vinaud are salvaging what they can from what was their clock store. But looters have taken most of what wasn't taken by the earthquake. For the survivors of Bachhau their entire lives, as they were, have been robbed and it's hard to imagine how they'll ever get them back. Transcripts on this website are created by an independent transcription service. The ABC does not warrant the accuracy of the transcripts.