Gujarat Earthquake

The Massive Earthquake Tragedy The fury of nature, fiercely unfurled herself, in the form of a devastating earthquake, in one of the most progressive states of India, Gujarat, on 26th Jan 2001. It was the worst natural calamity that independent India has ever seen, with unfathomable human misery & destruction. Part of Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Surendranagar & most of the towns and villages in Kutch district were razed to ground. High-rise buildings collapsed like a pack of cards, tapping thousands of people, with a few lucky ones scrambling to safety and a few rescued by the civilians, defence services personnel and relief personnel from foreign countries. The number of dead is placed at more than 20,000 and the number of injured must be running into lakhs. The entire country, nay, the entire world rose like one man to extend a helping hand, to all those affected by this gruesome tragedy. Relief supplies came by road, rail and by air from all over the world. Medical teams and specialist pitched their tents at the effected cities, towns, villages. Thousands of operations were conducted in the makeshift, open air hospitals. Numberless were those who become orthopaedically handicapped and emotionally crippled. Despite help from all the quarters, there was chaos and it was bound to be, for India has not seen the like of it & was least prepared for a disaster of such devilish proportions. Shocked out of their wits by a series of aftershocks, people preferred to stay & sleep in the open for days together. Several traumatized citizens left their home and hearth for supposedly safer places. For most of the affected, the loss was unbearable : loss of dear ones, deprivation of a sweet home and the growing misery, of living further with nothing & none to call their own.   The Earthquake aftermath Population affected 37.8 million Districts 21 Villages 8792 Human deaths ( approx)  20,000 Houses Collapsed 0.228 million Cattle deaths 35000 Estimated loss of property Rs. 135 billion Adverse impact on trade & industry 20 billion Rescue, Relief & Rehabilitation by Raghuvanshi Cheritable Trust ( RCT ) Within hours of the tragedy, the Raghuvansi Cheritable Trust(RCT) rushed to the rescue of victims who were trapped in the debris. A mobile team of doctors was sent to attend to those who needed medical attention in the Mahajanwadis with an ambulance & water tanker. Daily dressing and general medication was carried out for two months. Food was distributed free of cost, to about 10000 people, all over the earthquake hit areas, irrespective of cast & creed, thrice a day, for over two months. A team of 5 persons visited Bhuj on the 4th day of the tragedy, surveyed the rescue work in progress & analysed their immediate needs. Thereafter, tents, clothes, blankets, drinking water, groceries, milk powder, vegetables, edible oil, kerosene/petrol and kitchen kits were supplied towards relief operations. In response to call for support made by Raghuvansi Cheritable Trust(RCT), hundreds of donors, all over the world, generously contributed to rehabilitate the quake victims and rehabilitation efforts commenced immediately around March 2001. Three major schemes of rehabilitation had been chalked out as follows :   A) Education -- Rebuilding the damaged classrooms, to ensure that normal schooling activities were restored as early as possible.   B) Housing -- Construction of 2700 temporary & permanent eco-friendly houses in the town of Bhuj, Anjar, Bhachau & Rapar and payment of housing subsidy.   C) Self-reliance - Ensuring that businessmen who were thrown out of their regular occupations, are again self-reliant through material & financial assistance.     The rehabilitation work which commenced in March 2001, is being continuously implemented & periodically monitored. The task of constructing 652 pre-fabricated houses at Bhuj, at a cost of Rs. 27,000/- each house, was the first step, in the housing project. The Govt. of Gujarat, has granted the following subsidies : A) FREE Land B) Rs. 3000/- per house towards road, electricity, water, drainage & other basic amenities. C) Rs. 12000/- in cash for the family of victim.   In addition to these, each beneficiary of the house has contributed Rs. 3000/- as his/her contribution. The RCT has arranged for the balance amount of Rs. 9000/- per house, from donations of well Wishers. Accordingly, the first batch of 105 houses was handed over to the beneficiary on 18/06/2001, at the hands of Mr. Manubhai Madhavani of London. Another milestone was reached, when a fresh batch of 228 houses were handed over on 10/09/2001, at Bhuj, at the hands of dignitaries of Shree Lohana Mahaparishad, Nairobi, East Africa. The genuine desire of our generous donors, to ensure that the fires burn in every home, to revive the willingness of survivel in the minds of the helpless victims, witnessed their dreams being translated into a reality. Another detailed survey of the progress in rehabilitation work was done from 24th to 27th Sept' 2001, covering the Kutch District. The experience was a heart touching one, a moment of great triumph & satisfaction when one literally felt the joy of giving life to those who had lost the very desire to live.