Author:
Publication: The Economic Times,
Mumbai
Dated: February 12, 2001
Union home minister L K Advani on
Sunday asserted that there was no discrimination in distribution of relief
material to the earthquake victims in Gujarat.
Praising the efforts of voluntary
agencies and non-government organisations (NG0s) in reaching relief to
the quake-hit, Mr. Advani told reporters at a relief camp here that people
irrespective of their background were helping each other in the hour of
tragedy.
He said the Centre and Gujarat government
were jointly trying to work out a concrete reconstruction and rehabilitation
plan for people who have been rendered homeless in the earthquake.
Stating that tentage could not be an alternative to housing, the minister
said the new model of houses for the quake-hit areas should be such that
they stood the test of the vagaries of nature including that of the earthquake.
During his fifth visit to the earthquake-ravaged
parts of Gujarat since January 26, Mr. Advani on Sunday went to Chiloda
village in his Lok Sabha constituency of Gandhinagar.
He also visited a relief camp in
the Gujarat University campus here. Later in the evening, Mr. Advani held
a meeting with the legislators, officials of Ahmedabad urban development
authority, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Ahmedabad district collectorate,
various departments of Gujarat government and experts and engineers from
the centre for environment planning and technology. Later addressing
a meeting of BJP workers here, Mr. Advani asked them not to get bogged
down by criticism of the ongoing relief operations.
He said the 'critics were doing
their job and we must do ours' to provide succour to the quake-affected
people.
Stating the havoc created by the
earthquake was mind-boggling, Mr. Advani told the workers that they have
to emulate the example of Morvi and Surat, which were devastated by flood
and plague respectively. A new Gujarat should emerge out of ruins, Mr.
Advani said and urged the party- men to make a co-ordinated effort along
with the state government to reconstruct the quake-ravaged areas.
The government is likely to lose
revenue of up to Rs. 500 crore on account of disruption in normal operation
of country's busiest port at Kandla which was badly damaged in the last
month's devastating earth-quake. Union revenue secretary S. Narayan,
who was here on a day's visit to assess the damage, said that revenue loss
could range between Rs. 200 and Rs. 500 crore from the closure of the port
for nearly a week and below capacity operation.
Kandla port, which had an income
of Rs 22 lakh per day from berthing charges and providing other warehousing
and storage facilities, is currently operational at only 40 per cent capacity,
Kandla Port Trust chairman A K Joshi said.
According to the preliminary estimate
made by the experts from IIT Chennai and S. Gopalan, development advisor
(ports) with the ministry of shipping, Rs. 50 crore would be required for
restoration operations.
With crude oil petroleum products,
chemicals and agricultural commodities like cooking oils and soya as it
main throughput, kandla port handles 23-24m tonnes of general cargo and
20-22m tonnes of liquid cargo. Mr. Joti said the port trust was operating
from open air since the administrative building had been badly damaged.
The control tower building and new
block of the administrative building have been damaged while five out of
24 warehouses have been badly damaged. Port buildings at Gandhidham, Kandla
and Vadinar have also developed cracks, he said.
Rebuilding residential and administrative
buildings would entail an expenditure of about Rs. 30 crore while roads
would require Rs. 2.8 crore, jetties Rs. 12.4 crore, electrical installation
Rs. 1.1 crore, pipelines Rs.2.2 crore, water supply and drainage Rs. 65
lakhs and Railways Rs. 65 lakhs. - Agencies.
