PART 2LESSONS LEARNED FROM GUJARAT EARTHQUAKE

The Indian subcontinent is among the world’s most disaster prone areas with a population of more than 10,00,000,000. Th geographical statistics of India show that almost 54% of the land is vulnerable to earthquake, 21% of the land is vulnerable to drought, 8% of the land is vulnerable to cyclones and 5% of the land is vulnerable to floods. Further classification of the earthquake prone land reveals that 12% of land is prone to very severe earthquake (MSK IX or more), 18% of land is prone to severe earthquake (MSK VIII) and 25% of land is prone to damageable earthquake (MSK VII).

The earthquake-zoning map of India has divided India into 5 zones with zone 5 being the worst prone zone in the country. The zone 5 is the highest risk zone that suffers an intensity of MSK IX or more.

The state of Kashmir, the western and central Himalayas, the North-East Indian region and the Rann of Kutch fall in this zone. The Indo-Gangetic basin and the Rajasthan region fall in Zone 4 which a high risk zone (MSK VIII). The zone 3 which is a moderate damage risk zone ( MSK VII) comprises the Andaman-Nicobar Island, parts of Kashmir, Western Himalayas and Punjab. The zone 1 which is the lowest damage risk zone (MSK V or low) includes the peninsular India and the Lakshdweep islands. Thus, it is evident that almost the entire country is prone to earthquakes of varying intensity.

The Gujarat earthquake which occurred on the 26^th January,2001 measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale (7.7 as per US Geological Survey) had its epicenter 20 kms north-east of Bhuj and 110 kms north-east of Jamnagar. The shocks were felt upto Nepal in East, Chennai in South and J&K in North and it was one of the worst to have occurred in the country during the last 180 years for which seismological records are available.

The state of Gujarat suffered an unprecedented damage to its physical infrastructure in this earthquake. The incurred damages under various sectors of physical infrastructure are represented in the following tables.

The earthquake left almost 45 substation of Kutch and 255 feeders adversely affected. 9 towns and 925 villages were completely blacked out. The water supply in 10 towns of Kutch and 8 other towns of Rajkot, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad and Surendranagar was severely affected.

The road and railway links in Gujarat were also severely disrupted. The railway tracks between Dhrangardhra and Nalia (330 kms.) was seriously damaged. The Surajbari bridge linking Kutch district to Rajkot was also severely affected.

This earthquake was a major set back for the industries as almost 10000 small and medium industrial units went out of production. The famous handicraft of Kutch district suffered enormously and almost 50000 artisans lost their livelihood. The tiles and ceramic units in the district underwent severe losses.

Education suffered a major set back in the area as almost 1500 schools were completely destroyed.

The State Government of Gujarat did a remarkable job by large-scale mobilization of manpower, necessary equipment and earthquake machineries. The relief operations involved 1152 JCBs / cranes, 543 bulldozers, 2853 dumpers / trucks, 901 gas cutters, 2104 technical persons, 6213 non-technical persons and 13353 laborers. The State Government also managed to mobilize a big task force of 763 specialist doctors, 1834 medical officers and 2500 para-medical staff. Almost 1.66 lakh of injured persons were treated in the various medical camps organized by the State Government. A provision of free kitchen kit was also made which contained 50 kg wheat/flour, 3 kg rice, 1 litre edible oil, potato, onion etc. The State Government also distributed 6 lakh blankets, 2.5 lakh tents / shelter materials. A cash dole of Rs. 1250/- per family (for household kit) was made and an allowance of Rs. 250/- per family per month was allotted.

The Government of India in its immediate response to the disaster sent a team led by the additional central relief commissioner comprising 22 doctors along with life saving drugs, satellite phones, IMD equipments etc. to make an on spot appraisal of the situation. The PM of India announced an ad-hoc grant of Rs. 500 crore and Rs. 330 crore subsequently from NCCF. The government also deployed 23,500 army troops and 3000 paramilitary forces along with 48 aircraft and 3 ships. In order to restore communication with the disaster struck area, satellite phones, HAM radio, mobile phones were pressed into service. The telecom and railway services were restored by first week of February. Free transport inside and outside the country was arranged through civil aviation. A provision of issue of visa for 15 days was mad for the various foreign teams visiting the affected areas. There was relaxation of over draft regulation scheme. An allocation of 1 lakh ton food grains and release of 10000 metric ton of sugar was made. Adequate quantity of diesel and kerosene were also allotted. The central government provided 19 DG sets to Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) assisted GEB in repairing the affected installations. In addition to these responses, various central ministries extended financial and other assistance from ongoing programs / schemes.