Adivasi-Tee-Projekt



		Augenzeugenbericht vom Erdbeben in Bhuj Krishna (Architekturteam)

	[...] 26th: The Red letter Day! It was cold and we reluctantly got outdoors at 8.15 am as we had to get prepared for the training. Around 8.30 we were examining the dome structure when suddenly the earth started shaking we ran away from the building (even though it is only plinth high and there are no walls to collapse!) and went to he open. The shaking got intensified and 4 of us held each other so that we may not fall (may be also out of fear of death!) It seemed to go on endlessly without reducing in intensity and we saw the compound wall shaking and falling like a wall of cards! I was facing away from our building and looking towards the next compound where there are staff quarters for the policemen. One 2 story building shook and fell down right in front of our eyes completely destroyed. We kept thinking that the earth may split and kept looking down to see if it was happening. (it didn’t!) After what seemed a long time, finally the earth stopped shaking. We were dumb struck and didn’t know what to do. We could hear people screaming from the village and also the police quarters. We made a quick tour of the building we were in, to see if there is any damage and whether anyone needed help. The building was fine (no major damage) and everybody at the training centre escaped unhurt. We then moved to the policequarters. By now there were only 3 of us and the others had all rushed off to the village to check on their respective families. The building there had completely come down and the roof was sitting on rubble...we felt helpless as the task of trying to shift the rubble seemed too daunting and the cries for help from a women trapped inside made us feel miserable. There were no men around as they had all gone for the Republic day celebration at the village. So two of us got into a mo[tor]bike to rush to the police station and mobilize help. As we went into the village we could see confusion everywhere...people in a daze and shock, people running around mobilizing help to get the injured to the hospital, people sitting around with minor injuries, some not knowing where their dear ones are... The Police Station building had itself collapsed. The policemen at the Station seemed in a shock too and were huddled around the jeep fitted with the wireless. They seemed to be waiting for orders to move! Some of them left for the quarters to check on their families. The wireless was broadcasting messages but the police were not able to transmit for some reason. We left back for the police quarters and by the time we reached back, some villagers had gathered and had started removing the rubble to reach to the survivors. (Later they could rescue 2 persons but got only dead bodies of 4 others from the debris). By now at the centre more of the Staff had arrived for the training programme from Bhuj. We held a quick discussion on what to do and decided to move into the Primary health centre where the injured were being taken. We also sent 2 of the staff on a mobike to Bhuj to organize relief for Kavda. Once we reached there, we realized that so many people were being brought that there was a lot of confusion. There were 3 nurses and 1 junior doctor there. Some of the group took over creating records of injured coming and trying to bring some order there and help in dressing the wounds. We also decided that it was important to get information on whether the road and the bridge to Bhuj was intact and whether we could send information and request for supplies and doctors to Bhuj. I went with another colleague to get info from the Army people. The wireless was very busy and finally we managed to send a message requesting help. the next task was to get info on the situation in the villages around. We split into groups and went in different directions to check on the villages. The scene in the villages around Kavda The 4 villages I went to had populations ranging from 600 to 1500. Each place had 4 - 5 deaths … most of the dead were young children. Most adults had come out to be in the morning sun and the older children had gone to the school or the police station to celebrate Republic day. This seems to have saved a lot of lives. The buildings had been extensively damaged ... around 60-70 % totally or partially collapsed, the remaining mostly damaged heavily showing alarming cracks. About 5-10% were traditional mud constructions in circular shaped huts. These had almost all survived with no or minimal damages. We made note of how much food, water and blankets they had left as a lot of it was under the rubble and it would take time to retrieve….. of course when we went people were too scared to go into their cracked houses. But looking back now, I feel a lot of them had already started coming to terms with the tragedy and had already started (by noon) to arrange the burial/funeral of the dead. All this went on till 4 pm when it became apparent that the people we sent to Bhuj were not going to come back and we started hearing news on the radio about the extent of damage in Bhuj. This made those who had come from Bhuj anxious to go back to their homes and so they left for Bhuj, leaving behind 3 staff who belonged to Kavda and me. I hung around the PHC [Police Head Quarter] till 8 pm and once things had settled (out of about 100 who came for treatment, only 10 were left staying there the night. The rest had either been sent to Bhuj or sent back home. A lot of the villagers moved into the local school grounds where locals put up a camp and meals were being cooked. Most villagers stayed outside their homes (wherever there was open space) and all slept out in the open in the night. 27th : I spent the morning back at the PHC. There were newer injured who came in the morning, who had waited the previous day without coming to the hospital. There were also children and older people coming in with fever, cold and breathlessness after spending the night outside in the cold. In Kavda village, some of the families had started clearing the rubble to get to supplies etc., and even some of the shops that survived opened, so one could buy some biscuits and have tea in the roadside shops. By the morning we got more news of the situation in Bhuj and when it became clear that in the face of that, there really is slim chances of aid arriving in remote Kavda. So I decided to leave for Bhuj. By this morning the Army and the BSF had got themselves organized and were supplying water to the villages and also treating the wounded. Things seemed generally under greater control compared to the previous day. The scene in Bhujon on 27th By evening 6 pm, I entered Bhuj after being on the roads for 4 hours to cross the 70 kms. The devastation was shocking. Multi-storied buildings were missing their ground floors and resting precariously tilted. Many low-rise houses were completely destroyed. Inside the town, the old town wall had collapsed and the stones had fallen on structures built next to it, completely destroying them. In some places buildings had collapsed and blocked the roads. There were dead bodies on the roadside waiting for burial/cremation. It was very depressing and I wondered whether my friends and their families were safe. I reached the Abhiyan office and found most of them busy working coordinating relief. Two of the staff had jumped off 3rd floor and one of them fractured a leg.(the other had a less severe injury). On of the staff who was with us in Kavda till previous evening lost her mother. By night it became clear to me that almost 36 hrs later, the relief work still hadn’t picked up any ,momentum. The govt. was in a mess and there was no coordination, and there was no clarity as to what was going to come, where was it going to be sent and how was it going to be distributed. The Abhiyan got friendly ngos to come and prepared a list of items required and mobilized. There was also news that 60 volunteers were going to land up to help and their food and accommodation too had to be arranged. The local park, a small open space of 150 feet by 150 feet was taken over and work stated on putting tents to create a base camp cum office. The work on the camp continued on the next morning. Efforts were also on to organize posts in public places where supplies could be received and distributed. A lot of liaison with the district authorities also went on to get them to sort supplies out side Bhuj and direct it to the villages and other affected towns. But there was very little hope, as the collectorate (the local govt. ) seemed totally incapable of handling it and things became worse with the VIPs landing up in Bhuj. I had sent messages on 26th and 27th saying I am fine but I wasn’t sure whether they reached … once on 28th some railway staff came enquiring, checking up on me … that made me wonder if the messages were reaching. So I decided to leave Bhuj and go back to Timbuktu.

	Das Adivasi-Tee-Projekt ist eine AG der Bundes-ESG