'Toll may touch 100,000'

Defence minister George Fernandes, who has just returned from a tour of quake-affected areas in Gujarat, thinks the death toll could be as high as 100,000.

“If my worst fears come true, the death toll could be in six figures,” the defence minister told reporters on Tuesday. Mr Fernandes, who had been camping at Bhuj since the day of the earthquake, had also visited Anjar, Rapar and Ahmedabad, among the worst-affected areas.

He said the entire old Bhuj city has been devastated and the exact number of people lying buried under the debris is unknown.Union home minister L.K. Advani on Tuesday refused to hazard a guess on the death toll, saying any overestimate could create panic.

“It is sure that the death toll in the earthquake affected state is in five digits, but going beyond it and overestimating, it is felt, would lead to panic among the people,” Mr Advani told Doordarshan.

Tales of tragedy continued to pour in from all over Gujarat. Over 2,000 bodies were recovered on Tuesday, the fifth day after the killer quake. The state continued to reel under the fear of fresh tremors with 10 tremors in the last 12 hours.

All the tremors measured between 4.5 and 3.2 on the Richter scale. Various rescue teams managed to save over 284 people trapped under the debris for over 100 hours in different parts of Gujarat, including 134 people in Ahmedabad.

Mr Fernandes, meanwhile,said Bhuj, with a population of 150,000, was non-existent. He said the same was more or less true for Anjar, which had a population of 80,000. The entire city, except for some new buildings, was under debris, he said. “People there are in an ugly mood, complaining that nothing by way of relief has come to them,” he said.

“In other badly affected areas, like Rapar town in Kutch region where already 370 deaths have been reported, and from nearby smaller villages, the casualty figures were going up,” he said.

The toll was rising in Ahmedabad too, where bodies were still lying trapped under debris, he said. He said even those who survived the quake were in bad shape as all they had left were the clothes on their backs.

“They have been deprived of all their belonging. They need succour in every sense. There is need for common kitchens, plates, tumblers, blankets and other daily necessities,” Mr Fernandes said.

The most miraculous escape was that of Keyur, a two-year-old girl rescued by the AD regiment of the Indian Army. Keyur and her 25-year-old mother Nalini were rescued from Ahmedabad’s Maninagar area after nearly 100 hours under heavy debris. The daughter and mother are okay.

In another miraculous story of survival, a four-month-old baby was rescued from the debris in Bhuj. She was found resting in her mother’s arms. The mother was dead.

A Pakistani aircraft arrived in Ahmedabad with relief goods. It was welcomed warmly by the officials. An Israeli flying hospital reached Bhuj on Tuesday with the latest medical equipment and a team of surgeons.

Gujarat has been trying to limp back to normalcy but even now the majority of the people spend their nights in the open. Chief minister Keshubhai Patel said rescue and relief operations are on in full swing.

At least 175 high-rise buildings in Ahmedabad have been declared safe and the residents have been asked to go back to their homes after a team of central engineers assesses it as safe. Certain structural changes in the buildings have been suggested.

State finance minister Vaju Vala said a total of 6,566 bodies have been recovered from Bhuj. Mr Vala said voluntary organisations have adopted entire villages and there is an increasing demand for tents and blankets.

Mr Vala said 10 villages which have been affected the most include Bhachau, Aghori, Manpara, Parodhia, Chaubari, Vund, Anjar, Ratual and Alipu. “The state government has decided to take up full responsibility of children who have lost their parents,” Mr Vala said.

Mr Vala said the state is contemplating restructuring the villages that have been entirely devastated by the earthquake. Mr Vala said water supply and electricity has been restored to 95 per cent of Morbi district.

Asked whether the state government disputed the figure of 100,000 dead quoted by Mr George Fernandes, minister of state for home Haren Pandya said 100,000 dead was Mr Fernandes’ personal assessment while the figures being given out by the state were of the actual bodies recovered and bodies believed to be under the debris.

Mr Pandya said at a press conference in Ahmedabad on Tuesday that a total of 739 dead bodies were recovered in Ahmedabad until Tuesday and 827 persons were injured. The number of survivors has touched 134.

Mr Pandya said 17 bodies are believed to be still trapped under the debris at 10 difference places in Ahmedabad and that rescue operations will be completed by Wednesday.

Meanwhile, experts from the Central Building and Research Institute and the National Council of Construction and Building Materials assessed the damage to several buildings and have held meetings with engineers of damaged buildings to advise them on structural changes to make the buildings habitable.

Republished from Asian age