Author: S. Balakrishnan
Publication: The Times of India
Date: March 12, 2001
As many as 19,727 persons died
and 20,717 were seriously injured in the quake which rocked Kutch and other
parts of Gujarat on January 26. This was stated by Praveen Pardeshi, United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) manager posted in Bhuj.
Mr. Pardeshi told this newspaper
on Sunday that 232 persons are reported to be missing. He said according
to preliminary estimates the loss of property has been placed at US 4.5
billion. He said of the 19,727 dead, 18,100 died in Kutch, 751 in Ahmedabad,
433 in Rajkot, 119 in Jamnagar and 113 in Surendranagar. The dead included
165 schoolchildren of Anjar who were marching and singing patriotic songs
through the streets of the town on the occasion of Republic Day.
Mr. Pardeshi, who was the collector
of Latur when a quake rocked the district in 1993 and has enormous experience
in rehabilitation work, said the UNDP's perception was that the Gujarat
government had conducted itself very efficiently in handling the disaster.
"I must also state that the entire nation came to the rescue of Gujarat
during its hour of need. People from all over the country sent money and
relief material in large measure and spontaneously which was a moving experience,"
he observed.
The state government with the support
of the NGOs, the U.N. and other agencies restored all civic amenities including
water and power within a week. For example, the quake disrupted water supply
in 1,340 villages but it was restored in 993 villages within five days
and in the remaining villages water was provided through tankers. Water
was supplied even to Kuran which is the last village on the Indo-Pakistan
border. Also, an epidemic was prevented by taking proactive measures on
the health front.
The quantity of grains and edible
oil supplied through the public distribution system was so much that there
was no response to the relief work started by the district development
officer, he said.
Within a hour of the disaster, the
state government in coordination with the Centre converted Bhuj airbase
into an international airport with customs, immigration and other facilities
so that relief planes from all over the world could land.
He said initially the state government
could not coordinate the activities of all NGOs and relief teams from abroad
because it was concentrating on restoring basic amenities in the affected
areas. Also, large quantities of used clothes could not be distributed
because the Kutchis are a self-respecting lot who could not be expected
to accept these clothes. Also, inappropriate medicines were received. The
people needed medicines relating to orthopaedic surgeries and not antibiotics.
Referring to the sale of tents in
the open market, Mr. Pardeshi said 20,000 tents were received from foreign
agencies, while states like Maharashtra collectively provided 24,000 tents
and Gujarat government could itself procure about 28,4000 pieces. There
was duplication in certain villages and the excess tents found their way
into the local market, he explained.
Mr. Pardeshi said the U.N.'s resident
coordinator Dr. Brenda Mcsweeney has met Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai
Patel and offered a support programme worth U.S. 50 million dollars. There
is now a demand to upscale this to US 200 million dollars.
He said the UNDP has already distributed
about Rs 2 crore through NGOs for distributing blankets and other necessities.
The UNDP also prepared an integrated data base of all NGOs and the work
being done by them and also finalised a geographic information system to
map the exact extent of damage in each village.
