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THE RUINS ARE QUIET. ALL LIFE HAS EBBED AWAY.If anybody is alive now in the desolation alleys of Gujarat, buried beneath con-

crete, mud and human folly, it will be an event to make even the harshest agnosticconsider the existence of God. It may help to understand better an equation madein hell, to soften a blow that will be felt for a generation: if destiny is kind, 40,000dead. If it is not, more than twice that number, and even more bruised, maimed, or-phaned, and destitute, a horrifying honour roll in the world’s count of the damned.

They, and others who have been unharmed but not untouched—can there beanyone?—by one of India’s worst earthquakes, will carry images with them tillthe day they die. Of three minutes of liquid earth, crashing buildings and dreams,shattered families, cheating builders, callous officials, and paralysed government.Of stories of schoolchildren dead in their hundreds, crushed into rubble while cel-ebrating India on the morning of January 26. Of there being few to watch res-cuers clear debris in the hope of finding somebody alive in a small town in Kutchbecause none are presumed alive anymore. Elsewhere, of sole survivors of fami-lies wishing they were dead, too. Of millionaires turned into paupers and paupersinto the wretched. Of how government lost the will to act even as 20 countriesfrom around the world—even Pakistan—stood ready to ship rescuers and aid.

Fortunately, they will also carry images of hope. Of the infant being pulled outfrom the ruins of a high-rise after 100 hours. Of a child soothed by her mother’skiss, as she nursed an amputated hand. Of stories that spoke of immense braveryand selflessness, as people cremated their own dead and went back to rescuing oth-ers. Of beggars and businessmen who donated time, money and a common bondof civil society and sorrow to do what they could. Of the Indian diplomat who urgedplanes laden with rescue teams and relief material to take off, convinced he wouldhave the permit arranged in time for them to land in Ahmedabad—and he did.

Gujarat is trying to live again because people who built it with enterprise won’tlet it die of despair. —Sudeep Chakravarti

DEATH FRIEZE:Bodies in theruins of anAhmedabadapartment blockB

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destroyed and some villages wiped off the map.with more than double the number injured or

homeless. In Kutch many towns areThe death count could go up to 1 lakh

destroyed and some villages wiped off the map.with more than double the number injured or

homeless. In Kutch many towns areThe death count could go up to 1 lakh

FEBRUARY 12, 2001 ◆◆INDIA TODAY

DEATHQUAKEThe pain and

C 0 V E R S T O R Y

horror

SCENES FROM A NIGHTMARE: The flattened village of Karabau,50 km east of Bhuj (left); a mother and child cruelly trapped inthe rubble of an apartment complex in Bhuj (above); and inBhuj again, an image of perverse fascination

“The more we tried to run, themore we stayed in the same place.

There was a sound like a screamingtrain. And then, silence.”

SYED HUSAIN MIYA, BhachauHe lost his wife, daughter, sister-in-law and her children

meeting. It was already too late for major rescue.celebrations, it was five-and-a-half hours before officials

in New Delhi held a crisis managementCaught in the snarl of the Republic Day

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PRAMOD PUSHKARNA

Everywhere, ordinary peoplewere the first to search and rescue.

“All around youthere is only griefand anguish, lossand destruction.

What’s the point in crying anymore?”

JAGDISH VIRJI, BhachauHis mother died and his

house is in ruins

DEATHQUAKEThe pain and

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DESPAIR: A dead child lies near rubblewhile numb rescuers search desolatelyfor signs of life in Bhuj (left); mutehorror at a symbol of instant death, acrushed moped and its rider in Bhuj

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horror MADHU JAIN , Housewife, Bhuj

Madhu Jain stayed calm. When the quake struck, she had no idea whereher husband and two children were. She called out for them and ran. The 38-year-old housewife covered a few flights of steps and had almost made it outwhen she snagged her sari on a scooter.A slab of concrete fell on her leg, trap-ping her. And then there was an unending shower of debris and noise. But in-stead of shouting for help, “to save energy” she started chanting the Navkarmantra of the Jains. She could hear her neighbour Bipin Thakker through aslab of wall, shouting for help. Gradually, Jain doesn’t remember when, “maybe60 hours later”, his voice dropped and then faded altogether.Yet, she chanted.

She conserved her energy and started shouting only when she heard thenoise of bulldozers and cranes. And she panicked thinking that the debriswould now crush her. But suddenly there was a ray of light when the rescuersremoved a slab from over her head. Next, she was pulled out from the top witha fractured leg, the last of 22 saved from the apartment block’s hold of 122.That was 72 hours later. “Only once during those fateful hours did I think ofcommitting suicide,” she says. “I have been saved by Lord Mahavira himself.Money has no value for me from now onwards. My only motto now would beto serve people.” The gratitude overflowed when she heard that her injured en-gineer-husband was at Pune’s military hospital, rescued and airlifted on thefirst day.But she’s still in shock, so it hasn’t struck her yet that her children aren’taround her.And Madhu’s brother-in-law still hasn’t had the heart to tell her thatSweety, 12, and Kittu, 9, are dead. — Uday Mahurkar

DANCE OF THE DESTROYER: An intact statue ofShiva, the ‘Destroyer’, towers over funeralpyres in Anjar; the night is lit with the eerieglow from mass pyres in Bhuj (below left); evensome gods are not spared: a broken idol ofKrishna at Mansara village near Bhachau

“I cry insideseeing this

death dance. Iwill ask God

why he did it.”RASIKBHAI THAKKAR,

Bhuj businessman,self-appointed cremator

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anything that burns.But those extracted

are cremated with anything available,People are being buried where they lie.

“I’ve been saved by Lord Mahavira.”PRAMOD PUSHKARNA

BANDEEP SINGH

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BANDEEP SINGH

DEATHQUAKEThe pain and

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It will be weeks before the extentof death and damage is gauged.horror

HEADLINE SPACE FOR THE GRAPHICDEVASTATION: WHY? HOW? HOW MANY?

Normal earth movement

After-shocks

Anjar10,000 Bhachau

10,000

Bhuj12,000

Jamnagar12,000

Ahmedabad1,000

Surat33

Surendranagar80-100

Morvi80-100

Rajkot25

Seismograph at 8:46 ISTon Jan 26, 2001

Peak tremors

2001 126 0316 40.3R 23.409 70.125 25.0FFIMD 13 1.5HEARTBEAT OF THE EARTHQUAKEWHY IN GUJARAT?

■ The Rann of Kutch is in earthquakezone 5, the most vulnerable among the five seis-mic zones.■ The exact cause is still not clear. Sev-eral fault lines, including the Allabund Faultformed by a previous earthquake, run through theregion. These could have been reactivated.■ Intercontinental plate shift effects, or

AFTERSHOCKS

January 28 morning: 5.9*

Number of tremors betweenJanuary 26 and February 1: 147

February 1 morning: 4.3 *

*Peak readings on the Richter scale.

The range of fatalities is currently between 20,000 and 1 lakh.With administration still stalled and many villages cut-off, the tollcan only edge higher when more information comes in.

HOW PREPARED ARE WE?■ The Crisis Management Group haspre-set plans for disasters. Accordingly medicalpersonnel and army are deployed immediately. Butwe don’t have special commandos equipped withlatest search and rescue technology.■ No drills, decentralised evacuation or re-gional disaster mitigation plans in place. ■ State calamity funds already used fordrought relief. Rs 500 crore central funds available.

Graphics by AJAY; Research by SUPRIYA BEZBARUAH

Current Estimatesof Deaths

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horrorMinimal equipment and brokenroads hampered relief and rescue.

“I’ve been knocking on hisdoors to provide any amount

of abrasive wheels to cutthrough concrete. Butthese f@#*ers haven’tresponded even once.”

HEM DESAI, businessman, AhmedabadHis desperate pleas were to the city’s

municipal commissioner.

TENTATIVE FIRST STEP: Local scouts searchfor survivors in the deathscape of Anjar (left); hugecracks like this on the Bhuj-Ahmedabad highwaykept traffic and relief moving at snail’s pace

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BANDEEP SINGH

The army, navy and air forceworked round the clock for relief.

DEATHQUAKEThe pain and

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horror

HEALING TOUCH: A father whispers encourage-ment to a boy at the army field hospital in Bhuj(left); Gauriben Chantayi comforts grandsonAkash at the civil hospital in Ahmedabad. Akash’s mother died when their house collapsed.

“Sir, his entire family isdead. He has nobody tohelp him. Please savehis hands if you can.”

JANAK PUROHIT, Bhuj, requesting anarmy doctor not to amputate his

brother’s hands.

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Gunwant Lal Mehta is a rarity in Anjar—he’s alive.As he recovers in an army field hospital in the devastated town, he slowly

recounts an epic tale of survival. For 76 hours after the quake brutally re-modelled his house, Mehta lay trapped under 10-ft rubble of cement andstone. Nearby lay his mother and two sons crushed, dead.

All his escape routes were cut, but a dust-choked pocket of air kept the45-year-old grocer going. To prevent his throat from becoming parched hecupped his palms and began drinking his own urine. He says he wanted tocry very badly, but didn’t, fearing that the tears would dehydrate him quickly.

When he heard choppers flying overhead Mehta, slipping in and out ofconsciousness, called out Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel’s name re-peatedly, begging for help. And then around noon on the fourth day his crieswere heard by a group of soldiers from 2 Maratha Light Infantry. When theypulled him out an hour later on January 29, Mehta was delirious with painand sorrow.The first thing he asked the army medical supervisor, Major MaxRoberts, was the classic existentialist question, “Why am I alive?”Tired, Mehta closes his eyes. He’s badly bruised and his head hurts terribly.And he has some thinking to do: he has no family, no home, no money. Andthere’s a life to rebuild. — Sayantan Chakravarty

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“We’ve been warning the administrationsince 1995 about these buildings. Butwe couldn’t break the nexus of land

sharks, politicians and officials.”KIRTIBHAI KHATRI, Editor, Kutch Mitra, Bhuj

LIFE AND DEATH: Russian rescue teams pull out Ummerben, an elderly woman, aftershe lay beneath the ruins of her home in Bhachau for over 100 hours (top); inAhmedabad, relatives grieve over someone less fortunate at the V.S. Hospital compound

GUNWANT LAL MEHTA Grocer, Anjarof dollars.first three days,

and pledged aid worth tens of millions20 countries sent in relief within the

“Why am I alive?”

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BANDEEP SINGH

With hospitals ruined, medicaremeant tents, even open- air OTs.

This is a story Shaukat’s mother, Roshan, has totell;Shaukat is 18 months old, too young to relate tales.

That morning, Roshan, a 23-year-old block printerof saris in Dhamarka village near Bhuj, was home withthree relatives and Shaukat; her husband Kasam wasaway. When tremors began, they rushed to the street.So far, so good. Then, houses started collapsing allaround.They managed to steer clear—without a scratch.Except Shaukat who disappeared under the debris. Afrantic Roshan clawed at it. Villagers tried clearing therubble—for three days. “I was convinced Shaukat haddied,” Roshan recalls. “How could anyone survive that?”

Shaukat did. Rescuers finally managed to haul herout, with the fingers of her right hand crushed. At amakeshift army hospital, Shaukat didn’t flinch as doc-tors, applying local anaesthetic, snipped away her use-less fingers. Later, hand heavily bandaged, in the lap ofher mother, she smiled. Maybe later, she will say some-thing, tell her mother in baby-talk about what happenedin her private hell. “But I hope she forgets it,” saysRoshan. “I hope we all forget.” —Uday Mahurkar

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“Physically I havesurvived but mentally I

am finished. For us thosefive minutes have put theclock back by 50 years.”

JAIKRISHAN MEGHANI, near BhujThe chartered accountant lost hisdaughter, son-in-law and his house

STREET LIFE: The Bhachau intersection turns intoan open-air hospital, relief trucks are in the back-ground. All across Kutch, this is a common sight.

SHAUKAT BANU, Infant, Dhamarka

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“I was sure she had died.”

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BANDEEP SINGH

DEATHQUAKEThe pain and

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horrorRelief is piling up. Medicines are disappearing and food lies rotting.

“No amount of relief will be ableto put our livesback together.”MITABEN SONI, Bhuj

Lost her parents, grandmother

SMALL MERCIES: Survivorsscramble for food at Ratnal(above); and a rush forclothes and other essentialsat a Bhuj relief camp

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PRAMOD PUSHKARNA