Author: Seshadri Chari
Publication: The Organiser
Date: February 18, 2001
The worst earthquake in fifty years
that rocked Gujarat on the Republic Day has now been identified as the
severest one, measuring 8.1 on Richter scale. The magnitude of the quake,
as is evident from the devastation, can also be gauged from the fact that
areas from Peshawar to Chennai and Nepal to Mumbai and beyond felt the
tremor. More details of the killer earthquake are pouring in. So are questions,
about the way one handled the emergency.
For one thing, the visual media
has found great news worthiness in the earthquake. Between commercial breaks
beaming a superstar promising to make you a crorepati and some upcoming
cine star-turned- model flashing her dazzling teeth to recommend a particular
brand of toothpaste, (or mouthpaste and I hope they have the global TM
to use this word), the viewer was bombarded with information. Until one
saw the visual media, one never knew we had so many experts in our country
on earthquake alone, let alone other dangerous subjects such as plane hijack
and cyclone.
For whatever that happens in the
country, there is a "Hate RSS Group" (HRG) ready to plunge into the disaster
not with a view to mitigate the suffering but dig out some 'evidence' to
tarnish the image of the RSS. This time in Gujarat, the Hate RSS Group
might have got a setback for the first couple of days, because none of
them could really reach the spot on time! 'The RSS as usual had flag hoisting
functions in many places on that day. Besides, it is normal for the RSS
units to utilise such holidays for more door-to-door contacts. Many schools
and NGOs run by swayamsevaks had functions on the open grounds on Republic
Day. So when the disaster struck, many swayamsevaks got themselves organised
into groups and swang into action. Nobody gave them orders. There were
no dress rehearsals of disaster management. There were no lessons on how
to dispose of a rotting corpse. But the swayamsevaks did everything they
could do. From establishing the HAM radio connection to digging out decaying
bodies from the debris.
Amarjeet Singh, a student from Rajasthan,
came all the way to Bhuj to work with the swayamsevaks. When he left he
had rupees two thousand with him which he gave to the local RSS pracharak
and said: "This is from my personal earning. You see I am still a student.
But some day when I start earning let me assure you more donations."
Devjibhai Varchan was in the Shakha
when the ground beneath him shook violently. He could hardly stand firm.
He rushed to the dhwaj, folded it and looked around to know what was happening.
He knew it was an earthquake. Being a Civil Engineer himself, his house
was built conforming to all possible quake-proof dimension. In Ratnal,
his village, about eight kms from the worst-hit Anjar, Devjibhai's house
is the only structure standing amidst the debris. About two hundred people
died in his village. He first collected the boys from the Shakha and went
to the nearby houses to pull the people out of their dwellings. Later someone
told him how his own family had a miraculous escape.
He was happy that his vehicle was
safe. Within an hour, after organising relief village, he was off to Anjar
for his role as coordinator for relief work there. This sahjilla karyavah
of the RSS first halted at Khatri Bazar in Anjar. The whole area, known
for its cloth business, was reduced to a rubble. School children who were
going round the area on Republic Day were hurried under the rubble mercilessly.
The area was thickly populated with small lanes and multi-story houses
with each accommodating some dozen persons all engaged in cloth trade.
Khatris are Bohri Muslims and have been living peacefully with the local
Brahmins in the adjoining Brahmapuri for over half a century. The killer
earthquake did not distinguish in reducing the two areas to a heap of mangled
concrete. Nor did the RSS differentiate in relief works. Even after the
police and paramilitary came, it was Devjibhai Varchan and his team who
were pulling out bodies and taking them to the nearby open ground for identification
and disposal.
And closely monitoring the work
was Chamanbhai Kansara, jilla sanghchalak, who lost his daughter in the
killer quake which brought down his house at Bachau. His other daughter
sustained spinal injuries. He somehow managed to bring her to his relative
at Anjar but could not provide any medical facility. The town was itself
ravaged. "When the whole humanity is suffering, how can you distinguish
between your relatives and others?" he asked stoically. Having toured the
whole of Kachchh for RSS work for almost five decades he was able to easily
guide the relief workers pouring in from other areas. Even newspersons
took his advice to visit areas like Ratnal, Kukma, Madhapar on way to Bhuj,
the worst affected areas around the epicentre of the quake.
In Bhuj RSS office, Dilip Deshmukh,
the local RSS pracharak and Navinbhai Vyas, a manager in Dena Bank and
Jilla Karyavah, were busy working out the details at half past midnight.
"This is the time we get to chalk out plans", says Dilip Deshmukh. Navinbhai
has no time to mourn his sister and her two sons whose mangled bodies were
recovered from the debris after a day. "They are dead, but what about the
living'? We have to care for them", he said and began looking into the
road map for the next day's work. Soon they were joined by Keshubhai Thakrani
who informed about the deployment of foreign teams who had started coming
to Bhuj. Keshubhai speaks only Kachchhi language and knows a little bit
of Hindi but no English. Yet he was an important person much sought- after
by the German and French teams. "He knows where we are needed the most",
said the German team manager who had come with five snifter dogs. "We were
able to save some twenty-five lives with the help of the RSS workers",
he said.
What about the relief operations
by the authorities, we asked, expecting them to criticise. But it was not
so. "From our experience in Kobe, we can say that the authorities in Government
have many constraints. But in case of Gujarat, the Government did move
fast," he said. The Bhuj airport was devastated. All the buildings there
were razed to the ground and it took one full day for the army to put things
into order. But from day two airport was able to handle as many an one
hundred and twenty landings and take-offs.
The killer quake has jolted everyone
into action. The economic setback of the quake to Gujarat and the Indian
economy is yet to be computed. Loss on the human resource front is some
thing that no ministry can compensate. The authorities at work in the State
and at the Centre have short-listed their priorities. Soon the State and
the affected areas will limp back to normalcy. But there are certain long
term projects that would have to be handled on a priority basis today.
While five talukas in Kachchh have
been totally wiped out (Anjar, Bachchau, Bhuj, Gandhidham and Rapar) another
four are partially damaged. Providing temporary shelter and food and drinking
water should be the first priority. Soon the villages would return to their
places and with them the children who would have no school. Every taluka
and smaller townships should have a school building immediately. If not
anything, they would provide an opportunity for the children to assemble
during day time and villagers at night.
Some team needs to go into the details
of rebuilding the broken hearths and rejoining the broken hearts. Meanwhile,
all discussions on 'who went wrong where and who did most where' etc, can
wait.
