City plagued by disasters

Ahva Fernandes, a journalist with The Asian Age, has been living on the streets in a car for the last four days.\nHarnish Panchal, who owns an Internet service providing company, lost one of his two offices and the damage in the other building is yet to be assessed because there are cracks in the walls and pillars and it is too dangerous to venture in to the building even now.\nAnshul Singh, who works for Hewlett Packard, is living at other people's houses with his family.\nIt was a time to celebrate as the day dawned Sunday. It was the 52nd Republic Day, remembering the day when India adopted its own constitution. But a massive earthquake, recorded at 7.9 on the Richter Scale -- the second worst in history -- hit Bhuj and Ahmedabad, and ended the celebration.\nThis is not the first disaster to hit Gujarat. The state has had a bad run of luck with three major natural calamities during the past nine months. The first was a major drought in May. Newspaper reports talk of deaths of tens of thousands of cattle, failed crops, villages abandoned and entire families, including children, surviving on labor and relief work projects. \nLess than two months later came the exact opposite -- floods.\nResidents and journalists said with no history of earthquakes in the region, neither the people nor the government were equipped to handle the situation. \n"Rescue and relief work had not begun until more than 16 hours after the first major tremor. There was chaos everywhere," Panchal said. \nSchool buildings collapsed on children gathered for Republic Day celebrations, killing many instantly while others lay buried under the debris. High rises came crashing down, while scores of other buildings developed major cracks in their walls or foundations and people had to evacuate. \nSachin Sharma, a journalist for The Indian Express, said people are still living on the streets, in tents or under blankets. Those who could, found shelter in other homes.\n"I have been living on the streets in a car with my family since the day of the quake. It's just so awful. Every time we try to relax just a little bit, another tremor comes along and we rush to get onto open ground. There has never been so much destruction before," Fernandes said.\nLocal press reported a government research group in Thiruvananthpuram in Southern India had warned of the possibility of an earthquake hitting certain areas of Guajrat after minor tremors were felt in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, earlier last year. However, the press accused, no one took any action. \n"The city," said Arpit Kshatriya, who owns a cybercafe, "is in a state of shock. From the window of my office, I can see this open space, which used to be a 10-storied building."\nThe death toll in Ahmedbdad alone, residents say, is currently estimated to be around 15,000 with thousands more hurt or buried under debris so that the count is expected to go as high as 50,000. "There is no medication, no shelters, so many hospitals have been evacuated. There is just no place for people to go. One more major tremor, and the city will be razed to the ground," Panchal said, adding that the tremors were still continuing and that there was another strong tremor on Saturday morning, Indian Standard Time (IST), but fortunately, it only lasted for a couple of seconds. \n"Even if there isn't another earthquake, these buildings might still come down. There is no way they are going to be repaired any time soon, and with the rains in monsoons, God only knows what will happen," Kshatriya said.\nPanchal said the rescue workers are so overworked or in some cases even inexperienced to deal with the situation. \n"We fear, many will die in the very process of being rescued," he said. \nThe collapsed buildings are still lying that way because the city or the government does not have enough resources or man power to work on them, said Naresh Dave, a journalist with local newspaper Jansatta. Residents said relief work is slow. Communication lines are failed or failing.\nBut there is a silver lining. As with any disaster, or times of difficulty, the people and the community have come together. "Everyone is scared. But each individual is also doing what little bit he or she can do to help. Even if it is only passing out an extra blanket or inviting a neighbor to live in their house or even just making an extra meal and handing it out," Panchal said.\nBut residents said they believe it will take more than a material effort to rectify the situation.\n"If there is anything that can help the city now, it is the good will and harmony of the people amongst themselves," Fernandes said, "and a lot of prayers and good wishes"