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14,000 still buried after quake
BHUJ, India -- Officials say more than 16,000 bodies have now been recovered from the rubble of India's worst earthquake -- but nearly as many again are still thought to be buried. A teenage boy was pulled unscathed from a well in the village of Sikaravadi at the weekend but hopes of finding any more survivors have all but disappeared. Some of those who did make it have re-opened roadside stalls for the first time and demolition crews have stepped up work on scores of buildings weakened by the quake. Others wait patiently for the bodies of their loved ones to be pulled from the rubble.
An estimated 30,000 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless by the January 26 quake that cut a swathe of destruction across the western coastal state of Gujarat. (An aerial view of the epicenter.) The government believes 35 million people have been directly or indirectly affected, with 73,000 homes in some 1,000 villages destroyed. Gujarat Home (interior) Minister Haren Pandya told reporters in the city of Ahmedabad on Sunday that a total of 16,435 bodies had so far been recovered. Jayantilal Popat, 52, squatted beside a collapsed high-rise building in the old part of Bhuj where the bodies of his wife and sons lie beneath the rubble. "I will wait here till the bodies are found. Yes, I know they are dead," he said. Jayantilal had a miraculous escape when he was pulled out unscathed three days after the quake. "Lord Swaminarayan (a saint revered by Gujaratis) saved me," he said. Shantilal Tulsidas waited near the wreckage of another building for the body of his niece to be recovered. "We have to get the body so that we can perform the last rites," he said. Last MiracleThe rescue of 17-year-old Arjun Bhai from a well is being seen as probably the last miracle of the quake.
"We discovered he was in there when he started throwing stones," neighbour Usha Ben said. "He thought it (the earthquake) was a bomb and ran into a shed by the well and the shed fell into the well." The smell of disinfectant hangs over Bhuj, the town worst hit by the quake that registered 7.9 on the Richter scale. Some shops opened along the dusty streets on Sunday and people began moving about in cars and scooters for the first time since disaster struck. A travel agent sitting on the pavement did brisk business. Other people piled luggage into cars or stood by the side of the road with their suitcases looking for a lift out of the state to stay with relatives elsewhere. People sold tea from push-carts, while Channa Ben Bagri found many buyers for her fresh vegetables. "I have started selling vegetables for the last two days. I do business of about 1,000 rupees ($21.50) a day," she said as she sold tomatoes, onions and chillies from a sheet spread out on the pavement.
Behind her a building, once a buzzing market, was being pulled down. A bakery was open too, selling biscuits, sweets and chocolates. "I keep it open not to do business, but to make sure that my shop is safe," owner Mahesh Jethi said. Vows of pietyThousands of villagers vowed on Sunday to lead a life of piety after Hindu priests declared that the Earth, revered as the mother goddess, had shuddered under the weight of sin. The priests said the quake was provoked by rampant corruption, rising immorality and neglect of religion. "Bad deeds are blacker than mascara and sins are heavier than the Earth," said priest Gosai Haripur. "Why else would our mother cause such destruction?" Thousands of people are expected to join an ancient Hindu ceremony on Wednesday, where seers will chant Vedic hymns to mark the 13th day of India's worst natural disaster in five decades. Home Minister Pandya, supervising relief operations, said it would take two years to rebuild the state.
The Gujarat state government has estimated the financial loss from the quake at 208.75 billion rupees ($4.5 billion), but has warned the figure could rise. Many people face more immediate problems -- such as finding shelter and clean water. Large numbers are still sleeping on the streets, with neither tents nor blankets. Survivors' camps have little or no running water or toilets. And aid agencies say there is a serious risk of epidemics from water contaminated by the thousands of dead bodies still lying under the collapsed buildings. The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES:
Tremors spark fear in India RELATED SITES:
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