SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION I am a retired pharmacist, Secretary of the Luton North Rotary Club, recently a GSE Leader to West Africa, and this was my third visit to the Gujarat. I have been heavily involved in the ongoing campaign to eliminate polio, and I am trying to develop an HIV/TB testing programme in the Alang area. I was the UK Project Leader for the provision through a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant of a vehicle equipped to take polio immunisation and other aid to the babies and children in the 800+ villages of the Bhavnagar District of Gujarat, which has now been operational for a year. This vehicle was the first Rotary vehicle to arrive in the stricken area, and was instrumental in saving lives, being equipped with a generator for lighting and which was especially valuable on the first night.
The close personal relationships built up through this project have enabled me to make this independent visit to the disaster area in the company of a number of Rotarians from the Bhavnagar Rotary Club, themselves volunteers within an hour or two of the earthquake, first with rescue of trapped victims and then with the distribution of aid as it arrived. I spent five days in their company, including two days in some of the worst affected areas, visiting Bhachau, Anjar, and Vandh in Kachchh, within 20 or 30 kilometres of the earthquake epicentre, and Morbi and a number of smaller towns and villages in the north of the Rajkot District adjacent to Kachchh, talking with local people, aid workers, village leaders and so on, with the self-imposed objective of assessing the needs of the ordinary people and looking into ways in which aid could be aimed at those most in need. I also attended, and spoke forcefully at, a meeting in Rajkot of the Presidents of many of the Rotary Clubs in Gujarat, which also had the objective of looking to the future.
THE FIRST DAYS Immediately after the main earthquake struck, volunteers and aid began to pour in, particularly to Bhuj, from all directions. Thousands of people just downed tools and went to help the victims. For example, within two hours one of the ship-breakers of Alang on the Gulf of Khambat, a member of the Bhavnagar Club, had set off for Bhuj, about eight hours drive away by bus and truck, with 160 workmen from his and other yards, all accustomed to the moving of heavy objects, taking such cutting and lifting gear as they could. They remained there for five days, working 20 hour shifts, saving a few but also removing hundreds of the dead. Other Rotarians from Bhavnagar also headed immediately for the area, co-ordinating the aid distribution in a number of towns. A number of other clubs were also very active from the very beginning, others less so. Aid began to reach Bhuj and the other major towns first, and most of the villages had at least been contacted within three days. Many of the aid agencies are still there, an the government is assessing the damage and offering some financial support for rebuilding. By far the largest part of the aid has come from non-governmental organisations, who have worked together to ensure that all areas were covered, and as little as possible overlooked or duplicated.
THE PRESENT SITUATION After four weeks the situation has now stabilised. There has been constant work to remove rubble, mainly to gain access to the dead, and there are still many many bodies to be uncovered. Corpses recovered are almost always cremated unceremoniously, quickly and unidentified. The final death toll will never be known, and the local opinion puts the figure well in excess of 100,000.