February 2001 World Headlines

Friday, February 16, 2001 - Web posted at 9:34:15 AM GMT

Indian govt under fire for neglect of quake survivors
MADHU NAI

NANBHUJ, India - The Indian government must urgently draw up long-term rehabilitation plans for the thousands of people seriously injured in last month's Gujarat earthquake, aid workers warned yesterday.

The quake on January 26, Republic Day, is estimated to have killed around 30,000 people but it has also left thousands of people from the semi-arid Kutch region seriously injured and facing a very uncertain future."

"Physical disability will be a major issue among survivors.

Unfortunately this is not even on the agenda of the authorities," Dr P.V.Unnikrishnan of relief agency Oxfam (India) told AFP.

Unnnikrishnan said hundreds of survivors had either spinal injuries which had left them paralysed or had limbs amputated."

"Lots of these survivors are in hospitals in the cities of Ahmedabad, Pune, Bombay.

They have been taken there from the villages of Kutch."

"In a few days time they will be discharged from the hospitals.

Where will these people go?

There are no facilities in the camps being set up in the villages to meet the special needs of these people.

Many of them are sole survivors or children."

"Unnikrishnan said he was investigating using the courts to ensure that these survivors were kept back in hospitals until proper facilities were set up in the villages."

"There is a lot of insensitivity among the authorities even in the matter of setting up camps for the survivors," he said."

"For instance in Adhoi village near Bachau, the Indian army is putting up 400 tents on an open patch of ground.

The tents are barely one foot apart from each other.

"People are supposed to cook their food inside.

Imagine what will happen if one of the tents catches fire, especially in the blistering heat of the day."

"Unnikrishnan said the authorities should involve village residents when deciding to put up temporary shelters given the strong attachments to Hindu castes in the rural areas."

"Different caste groups will prefer to stay together rather than be mixed up with other castes.

The upper castes would not stay with the lower castes or Muslims.

Officials from the American Red Cross said they were putting together a programme to address the mental needs of survivors.

- Nampa-Sapa-AFP

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