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 26th 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.