M A I N   N E W S

Gujarat seeks Rs 20,000 cr aid
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 15
With Gujarat seeking a central assistance of Rs 20,000 crore for rehabilitation plans, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today convened a preliminary meeting of the National Disaster Management Committee ahead of its first full meeting on February 18 to take stock of the situation.

The Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Keshubhai Patel, along with his Finance Minister and top officials met the Prime Minister and sought a central assistance of about Rs 20,000 crore for “rebuilding Gujarat” to meet the twin challenges of earthquake and drought in the state.

Among others present at the meeting were the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani and the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha.

“ The Prime Minister has assured me of all assistance to repair the large-scale damage caused by the earthquake”, Mr Patel told a press conference here after meeting Mr Vajpayee to apprise him of the damage in the state.

The Disaster Management Committee headed by Mr Vajpayee, was constituted last week to deliberate on institutional and legislative measures for an effective and long-term strategy to deal with national calamities in future, they said.

The 37-member committee, which includes the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the BJP President, Mr Bangaru Laxman, would “suggest short-term, medium-term and long-term steps for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in earthquake-hit areas of Gujarat”.

It would also “look into the parameters that should define a national calamity”, the sources said.

The decision to set up the committee was taken at an all-party meet chaired by the Prime Minister on February 3.

The committee has five representatives from national political parties and 20 from state parties.

Professionals’ exodus from Ahmedabad
R. Suryamurthy
Tribune News Service

Ahmedabad, February 15
The Bhuj quake has shaken the confidence of the professionals and their exodus from the second most industrialised state of the country, Gujarat, has begun.

Most of the professionals, who do not own property, had come to the Gujarat for the safe and secure environment in the state.

However, the quake has shaken their confidence and several professionals who had come to Gujarat for employment have started leaving the state.

“I had come to Ahmedabad, not only for job, but also the safe and secure environment of the city,” said Lalita Rao, a software professional working with a computer firm.

Lalita Rao is not alone in fleeing from the industrial city of Ahmedabad, where several high-rise structure crumbled killing at least 700 persons and injuring scores of others in the Republic Day quake.

Rajan, an engineer working with the textile mill, said “I am alive by god’s grace. I had gone to my friends’ place for some party and next morning the quake destroyed my home.”

Most of the professional whom The Tribune talked to had come to city for jobs and had not invested in property. They had no other stake than their job and were quite confident of finding an alternative within the next few weeks.

State Home Minister Haren Pandya, said the fleeing of professionals from the state is initial panic reaction. Within the next few weeks, these professionals would realise their mistake and come back.

State government officials said the state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 20,875 crore. The industrial and commercial losses were estimated at around Rs 8000 crore, the damage to houses and belongings at Rs 1100 crore, besides Rs 1875 crore for public buildings.

Gujarat accounts for 11 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and an eighth of its industrial output. Its four ports — one of which, Kandla, is among the largest in the country and has been extensively damaged -carry a third of India’s exports.

The state has more than 200,000 small units and over 2,000 large and medium enterprises. Besides, the state’s diamond cutting and polishing industry is among the largest in the world, with a daily turnover of Rs 300 million.

Moreover, Gujarat’s share in the country’s petrochemicals, petroleum refining, natural gas, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals sectors is 36 per cent, 30 per cent, 22 per cent, 32 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.

And several large industrial houses, such as Reliance, the Essar group, Videocon and Arvind Mills have their principal units in the state.

No takers for mail in Gujarat
Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

Bhuj, February 15
Familiar ring of bicycle bell doing rounds of the city and villages every afternoon bringing everybody to gates has ceased to be a casualty of the post-quake disarray.

There are no takers for post and mail with villages being bereft of people, some dead and others having left.

After four days of complete close-down following the quake on January 26, the Post and Telegraph Department has very little to write home about even a fortnight later as most letters are being undelivered and dumped behind the tent from where it operates.

Mail vans shuttling between Bhuj and Ahmedabad go on with the task of delivering letters to post offices almost untiringly though disillusioned at their non-delivery.

Sadly, very few are actually picked up by the addressees who rarely turn up at the post office despite adequate publicity and information.

“Our postmen take letters to areas which are still inhabited by people. However, very few manage to deliver a letter little being known of the dead in the area. Their scant information about the whereabouts of those who had survived the earthquake as most have moved out to safer areas and camps without leaving behind any information,” an official informs.

Though over-worked at the camp offices, beginning work at 6 am and closing down only 12 hours later, the employees are disillusioned with little progress being made in reaching out to the addressees despite giving it their best shot.

“We are ecstatic when a man who has walked down a good four kms from an adjoining village is able to locate a letter while rummaging through the ever-rising pile. These letters invariably bring a smile to the lips of the reader, showing somebody, somewhere cares for him. For us, the feeling that we have actually touched a life and made a difference is compensation enough for the sitting behind this wooden table all day,” employees at the post office said.

Officials of the P and T Control Room, Ahmedabad, manning the entire quake-hit Gujarat, maintain that 60 per cent of office work continues to be disturbed and that mail received has gone up by 15 per cent.

They add that no respite in terms of clearance of pending post is likely with the piling letters and no takers.

They explain that letters received each day are kept for over a week at the post office before being sent back to the sender if it carries a return address.

The rest find way into gunny bags and little is known of their fate.

Staying at one end of the city, Deepak Sadhu, a small-time mechanic, says, “I can’t leave my work and come to check mail everyday. There is so much debris to clear and I have my hands full working out ways of fending for my family.”

Like him, others contend that at this time the contents of the letter usually revolve around enquiring about their welfare.

Since those that are fine are busy and those dead can’t come back and read letters, there is no hurry. Ironically, most letters received carry the message “URGENT” in bold handwriting on top.