A flight going over the salt desert in the Indian state of Gujarat. From the air the pilots can see huge craters and tectonic distortions left by the earthquake. The date January 26^th will go down in Indian history. At 8:45am on Independence Day the worst earthquake in 50 years on the subcontinent brought death and devastation.

In this salt desert area, the impact of the natural disaster is easy to see. The force of the earthquake is said to have been 300 times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb. Gujarat has always endured a high quantity of earthquakes, but the central government’s recommendations to build earthquake-proof homes was never implemented. The epicentre of the earthquake was in the Kutch region, and the earth is still shaking.

This time it is not only the poor who have been hit, but also the many high-rise buildings in the booming city of Bhuj. Now the government is to crack down on local politicians and officials, who issued construction permits in return for bribes. They did not care whether construction regulations in the earthquake vulnerable area were followed.

The regional government estimates the death toll at 35,000 – exact numbers are yet to calculated. Everywhere smells of decay. The dead are recovered and burned as soon as possible, and there is a threat of epidemic. Half a million people are now homeless. Aid organisation take care of survivors in Bhuj, the area worst hit by the earthquake. No such help can be found in more remote villages.

If you have enough flour you can make chapati, the Indian flatbread. But there is not enough clean water. During the day survivors are mobile, but at night they freeze in temperatures of seven degrees Celsius. There is great solidarity in India with the victims. Hundreds of trucks are on their way to Bhuj. They indiscriminately stop and hand out aid. Volunteers from all over the country are trying to help.

Speaker 1: We cannot keep crying. We have to fight. The people of Kutch are very strong. We have to fight with nature.

The government immediately sent hundreds of doctors from other states. The Indians are a proud people who do not like to accept aid from abroad. This earthquake is an exception.

Speaker 2: At the beginning it was good that help came from abroad, but now the Indian doctors can cope on their own. We no longer need foreign medics.

Despite the presence of foreign aid organisations, the survivors are dependent on their compatriots. More than a thousand villages and towns, a total population of 35 million, were affected by the earthquake according to government sources. Damage to property is estimated at 45 billion schillings. A government employee has taken in six families at the front of his home. They sleep under a tarp and get food from the government employee’s family.  They are former residents of Bhuj’s old town.

Speaker 3: People cannot do it alone. Many are very poor. They have saved up their whole lives and have now lost everything. We have to help them.

The same situation applies to the Solanki family. Their fortune was in this house in Bhuj’s old town. They are still waiting for the government inspection in charge of evaluating all houses still standing.

Speaker 4: I just wanted to see my house again. The authorities are likely to tear down all the houses in the old town. They don’t know where we’re going to live.

73,000 houses have been completely destroyed. Around double were badly damaged according to official information. Everyone is trying to save what is left from the rubble.

Speaker 5: Life here has made people resilient. People from the Kutch region are especially strong. They are successful in the wider world. In Bombay, the economic capital of India, you can find successful people from our region everywhere. So we will get out of this mess.

In the port city of Kandla, a natural disaster had already occurred in 1998. For two years many people have been living in makeshift tents after a powerful hurricane raged across the city. Meter-high waves dragged the huts into the sea. According to estimates, 5,000 people died in the storm. But within a short period of time, life returned to normal in the ruined port city. People started repairing their homes as well as possible. That is until the earthquake destroyed large parts of the city for the second time, bringing back memories of the hurricane.

Speaker 6: In June 1998 at two o’clock the cyclone hit us. High waves flooded the city. The water was a meter high in my house. All the huts in the slum area were destroyed.

After the earthquake, half the population left the city for fear of aftershocks, but also because of the tank silos. Kandla is India’s biggest hub for petroleum, wood and chemicals. Over 1,000 chemical silos are located in close proximity to the residential area. During the hurricane three years ago, highly toxic chemicals got into the water. The workers demanded to be resettled, but their demands were in vain.

Speaker 7: Here products like ammonium, petroleum and sulfuric acid are stored. Over 25,000 people who work for the Kandla Port Authority live in the vicinity. Either the inhabitants have to be relocated elsewhere or the authorities must store the highly toxic products elsewhere.

The people of Kandla are persecuted by fate. A hurricane and an earthquake within three years. This is unusual even for Indian conditions. The danger from the tank silos remains. Those in Kandla cannot sleep peacefully.