From Leslie Robertson, 31 The Avenue, Luton, LU4 9AF
Telephone: 01582 617443 Fax: 01582 539892 email: leslie.Robertson@ntlworld.com
INDIAN EARTHQUAKE DISASTER – A SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT
FOLLOWING A SECOND VISIT
6 June 2001
THE PRESENT SITUATION After
four months the situation remains very much the same as it was after one month.
Work still goes on to clear rubble, which is being dumped beside the road
outside the towns and villages. Indeed, it is almost possible to assess the
relative level of damage in each place by the size and extent of the rubble
heaps. There still remains a great deal to move, and human remains are
constantly being found. It is still difficult to assess the death toll, as
government figures are regarded as being deliberately understated, due to the
official need for identification. There does seem to be general agreement that,
in the towns and cities, about 10% of the population has perished; rather fewer
in the country. The Rotary clubs in the affected area appear to have suffered
lower losses than the average. In Bhuj I was told that no Rotarian had died and
only three or four family members, but in Anjar a few kilometres away two
Rotarians were lost and 32 family members. However, a great deal of property
has been destroyed. Just to give an example, the incoming District Governor for
D. 3050, a member of the Bhuj Club, has lost both his home and his office and
is operating from a simple village house 20 kms outside Bhuj.
There is little evidence of
reconstruction. Minor repairs are being done, even some major ones where funds
and materials are available, particularly to commercial property. Most of the
administration is functioning in temporary and prefabricated buildings, for
example the court in Bhuj is, for the moment, being held on an open space once
used for fairs and games. The rebuilding of properties which have been totally
destroyed or need demolition is a different matter. It would appear that, throughout
the whole of Gujarat, government regulations are actively preventing any
rebuilding being done. Compensation has not yet been decided, shared funding
for schools is not yet available, permission is not being granted and
earthquake resistant guidelines are not yet agreed. Indeed, press reports while
I was there suggest that the critical guidelines enabling both the
effectiveness and enforcement of the regulations have actually been omitted
from the final drafts. The people are not being allowed to rebuild their homes
and offices, even where they have the funds and the will, although in fairness
it has also to be said that many people are reluctant to begin rebuilding while
aftershocks continue. Many individuals and NGOs have plans which cannot yet be put
into operation, although a few of the more enterprising are finding ways.
Indeed, the first 12 houses of the RIBI sponsored building project, handed over
to their owners at a very emotional ceremony on May 27th. were the
first to be completed anywhere in the region, and have been the subject of a
number of visits and enquiries from other NGOs. The happiness of the
beneficiaries had to be experienced to be believed, but to give an example of
the difficulties needing to be overcome, the houses themselves took only 42
days to build but it needed 27 visits to government offices in Gandhinagar
(four hours drive away) over a 46 day period before work could start.
There are a number of building projects
underway, mostly under the auspices of temple organisations and in their early
stages, but there is also one government sponsored rebuilding project close to
the main road between Bhuj and Bhachau, the replacement of a razed village in
conjunction with a major NGO and approaching completion. Called “New Dudhai”,
this project was due to be visited by the Prime Minister of India early in
June, and will no doubt be heralded as a wonderful example of the way that the
Government is forging ahead with the rebuilding programme. Personally, however,
I was unimpressed by the houses being built, which seemed to be well below the
standard at Bahktinagar, and as far as I could ascertain this is actually the
only government project which has been started, and everywhere the vast
majority of the people who lost their homes on January 26th are
still living in the simple tents and shelters into which they moved immediately
after the earthquake, or in some temporary homes of tin sheet, which, in 40 –45oC
are barely habitable. There are indications of growing migratory movement on the
roads as demoralisation takes a hold and there are no signs of improvement in
the situation in the foreseeable future. In the remote rural communities the
situation is still much worse. One village was found by Rotarians from
Bhavnagar 22 days after the earthquake, without previous contact or aid, and
where the people almost starved to death. Even in Bhaktinagar, the village of
the Rotary houses, the very first government representative arrived to ask
about earthquake damage on May 24th, three days before the handover,
and four months after the earthquake.
Aid agencies are now much less in
evidence than they were in February, although I was told that their work
continues where necessary. Hospitals and clinics are operating as normally as
possible in rather better, but mostly temporary, accommodation than in
February. Where repairs were possible, a lot of work has been done. Services
like limb fitting, physiotherapy and rehabilitation of the injured have been
stepped up and most of the demands are being met. New truckstops have been made
from tin sheet adjacent to the ruins of the old ones. Gradually things will
return to a resemblance of normality, but local opinion suggests that it will
be at least two or three years. Judging by the amount of clearance work still
to be done, it could well be considerably longer. While I was there a serious
risk of a cyclone mercifully ended only in rain and storms, and a substantial
monsoon is now expected early in June.
The problems of the hundreds of
thousands of people living virtually in the open are not yet over.
SO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE NEXT? The
comments I made in my earlier report still stand. As far as RIBI and Rotary
funded rehabilitation the situation is as follows. The Bhaktinagar project now
moves into the next phase, which will be a batch of 43 houses on virgin land,
also for the most deprived people of the area, followed by a school (when
government grant permission), and a health clinic. Permission has already been
granted to call this second part of the project “Rotarynagar”. District 3050
(with 80% of the damage) will shortly receive two 3H Grants for rebuilding
work, and a further two, one each for 3050 and 3060 will arrive next year. The
combined District funds have also received £150,000 from RIBI and substantial
other sums from other parts of the work, including $1million promised by Japan.
It is the intention to use this money to rebuild schools, and plans to do this
seem to be well in hand. However, I was unable to get an answer to the question
“When?” as this will depend on joint government funding being available as well
as permission. The initial aim is to build 1000 classrooms in Kutch, but at the
moment the government seems to be accepting the responsibility for rebuilding
the primary schools and asking for help with secondary schools. There are also
a large number of higher education establishments run privately or by trusts
which also need help, and there is a lot of scope for individual clubs and
other organisations to fill many of these gaps, albeit needing great
determination and persistence.
Apart
from rebuilding it seems to me that there are many things which Rotarians can
do. Many of the local clubs are working very hard with varying degrees of
success and support. I believe that many clubs and individuals, within and
outside Rotary, would be prepared to offer continuing support if they can be
assured that their contribution is not going into a communal pot to disappear
without trace, and I am therefore working now with Rotarians in Districts 3050
and 3060 to compile a project ‘shop’, (register or ‘bank , call it what you like), offering a wide range of
choices together with personalised feedback and information. So that, for
example, a club could build a home for a widow or sponsor an orphan knowing who
they are, with a photo, or someone could buy a set of tools for an artisan to
get him working again or a tricycle for a disabled person. I already have a
number of costed examples of such projects and would welcome enquiries, but
hope soon to be able to offer a dedicated website, details of which will be
widely circulated and, hopefully, linked to other sites.
While in
the Gujarat I also took the opportunity to do more than visit the earthquake
areas and investigate the rehabilitation programme. I made some enquiries on
behalf of the Jaipur Limb Trust, and a report has gone to Colin James which I
hope will help them to structure their own visit in September more effectively.
I was also able to trace a few of the Shelter Boxes to their end users, and a
report on this has gone to Tom Henderson. I was also able to help with the
re-allocation of a few of the boxes which were not in use, and with the placing
of many of the next batch of boxes to the most needy people in the remote
areas. I was able to help with plans for some school rebuilding, with the
repair to a rehabilitation centre, with equipment for a mobile physiotherapy
unit, and also to agree a screening project for HIV/TB co-infections, as well
as having wide ranging discussions with local Rotarians, the District Governor
of 3060 and the incoming DG of 3050. There are many ways in which Rotarians can
help, and as plans develop I will try to keep people informed. There will
shortly be an updated Powerpoint presentation available on CD ROM, showing
progress in Bhaktinagar as well as the original damage in the region.
I would like to record my enormous gratitude to the Rotarians of the
Bhavnagar Club, not only for hosting me and making my visit productive, but
also for the tremendous work they have put into the realisation of the first
stage of the Bhaktinagar project, work which I know will continue.
Leslie
Robertson, Luton North Rotary Club, D.1260 6.6.01