M A I N   N E W S

The dead wait for their turn
From R. Suryamurthy
Tribune News Service

AHMEDABAD, Jan 29 — As the death toll rises by the hour with the extrication of bodies from the debris, the dead wait for their turn at the crematoria in the city.

Stretched to their limits, the 12 crematoria run by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation are functioning round the clock.

With the threat of an epidemic spreading if the bodies are not extricated soon, the crematoria have a daunting task at hand.

A visit to the crematorium presents a heart-rending scenes as old men cremate their son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren or teenaged boys light the pyre of their parents and grandparents. Two teenaged boys, Manish and Harsh, line up to perform the last rites of their parents.

“There is no meaning left in life now. How can we live without our parents? How can God be so cruel by sparing our lives?” said Harsh, controlling his tears.

Mr Ashok Patel (70) returned to the textile city to find his son, daughter-in-law and their five-year-old daughter killed in the quake.

“Did I live all these years only to witness this tragic day”, he said inconsolably at the line-up outside one of the four electric crematoria run by the municipal corporation.

There is hardly any ritual to be performed with the bodies lining up one after another. Crematorium officials want to make sure the bodies get a decent last rite rather than an elaborate vedic ritual.

Considering the scale of the disaster, the municipal corporation has waived the charges at the electric and traditional crematoria.

The officials are also not insisting on a post-mortem report. Since all deaths are due to earthquake, they are simply being burnt after registration.

But with death, there is new moolah to be made by some. Shops selling items necessary for conducting cremations have recorded brisk business in the past two days.

Dhiren, who sells bamboo stretchers, white cloth and other traditional last rite items, said: “I have completely run out of stock. I have ordered for more items from the main market. Normally eight to 10 bodies are cremated in a crematorium.

Attackers loot rich survivors

BHACHAU, Jan 29 (PTI) — With relief trickling in at a slow pace, looting has broken out in the cash-rich Bhachau taluk of Bhuj. In Bhuj, where 30,000 out of a population of 40,000 were feared trapped, armed gangs have begun attacking the survivors.

According to eyewitnesses, they are looting jewellery, breaking open already ravaged cupboards and threatening the survivors with choppers, knives and sticks.

Suresh Bhai Thakor from Manfara village was robbed of jewellery and cash worth Rs 75 lakh from his now destroyed shop. The locals are also complaining about lack of policing and maintenance of law and order in the entire taluka which remains cut off from the region without telephone lines and electric supply.

Punjab to send food for 1 lakh daily
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 29 — In a unique gesture towards earthquake victims of Gujarat, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has agreed to send cooked food for one lakh people every day.

The Punjab Chief Minister received this request from his counterpart in Gandhi Nagar, Mr Keshubhai Patel. Mr Badal immediately agreed on the condition that the cooked food had to be airlifted from Amritsar every day. Amritsar, the Punjab Chief Minister felt, was very convenient to supply the cooked food for one lakh people a day because of the Golden Temple complex and huge capacity of the “langar” of the complex.