Still shaken by the devastating floods, Surtis have been untouched by the festive spirit. Damages running into lakhs, loss of lives, a pittance as cash doles from district authorities make it a dark Diwali for Surat residents.

With an average cash dole of Rs 1,250 per family, close to 10 lakh middleclass households in the city are still unsure about what holds forth even as they desperately attempt to piece together their lives after swirling Tapi waters swept away everything.

Two months after the massive destruction, Express Newsline visited some worst-effected localities. Some families were recuperating from the blow, some had begun with life again while some were still in a state of shock. Loans to small businessmen at subsidised rates and the paltry cash relief won’t go a long way, they feel.

Stationery store owner Kirti Kapadia’s Snehshruti Society residence lies in shambles. As he settles down for lunch amid bundles of things salvaged from the house and the shop, Kapadia says, “Everything was lost. Water was touching the ceiling. Even the electrical wirings will have to be done afresh.” His son Gautam, who now looks after business, says they have loaned Rs 3 lakh from family and friends. “The boundary wall collapsed, most items in the store got washed away. We have received cash dole, but I could not be present during District Collector’s survey for damage assessment,” he says.

At Chowk Bazaar’s Textile Galli, ask Altaf Razzaq about life post-floods, the textile wholesaler snaps back: “I have thrown away two truckloads of furniture and household items. I have bought things from a loan after renovating my ancestral house.” Most of his neighbours have moved to other parts of the city. A majority are planning to convert first floors of their tenaments into business outlets and shift families to safer locations on the city outskirts.

On relief, Surat District Collector Vatsala Vasudevan says, “We have already disbursed about Rs 49 crore as cash doles in city and rural areas. The survey by the Centre says that close to 84,000 shops and establishments have been affected by the floods. Those affected will have to approach some nationalised banks for loans at a subsidised rates.”

Source: Expressindia.com

On a project-conceiving spree, the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB), State Government’s infrastructure planning arm, has commissioned a pre-feasibility study to explore the possibility of an expressway between Ahmedabad and Rajkot. If found to be viable, the GIDB would seek approval from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and invite bids. This, along with a coastal corridor connecting Bhavnagar to Navlakhi port through Rajula, Veraval, Porbandar, Dwarka, Okha, Bedi, and Jamnagar, would speed up Saurashtra’s much-delayed road integration with rest of the country.

Officials say that presently in the pre-feasibility stage, the proposed Rs 1,000 crore project to upgrade the present national highway between the two cities to an expressway would reduce the travel time between Saurashtra and Mumbai. With the Ahmedabad-Vadodara and Surat-Mumbai roads already complete, the Rajkot-Ahmedabad stretch would save up to 2 hours travel time.

“With the region seeing hectic industrial and marine activity, need is felt to conceive such a project. Though it’s too early to say by when it would come up, but we are studying the project. It would take some time to seek NHAI’s permission,” informed a senior GIDB official.

Source: Expressindia.com