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News Analysis
A continuing trauma
By Kalpana Sharma
In large parts of Gujarat, particularly Kutch, people refer to January 26 as `kala din' or black day. These people are not being unpatriotic; they are reflecting the trauma that continues to haunt them as they remember that day a year ago when large parts of the State were devastated and over 13,000 people died.
It is unfortunate, therefore, that the Gujarat Government is using the occasion to pat itself on the back over its `achievement' in the post-earthquake period.
This is hardly a time either for boasting or for recrimination. Instead, it ought to be an opportunity for reflection and for examining more closely what has gone wrong and why despite the sincere efforts of so many individuals and institutions to rebuild Kutch and Gujarat.
If anyone deserves credit for what has been achieved in the last year, it is surely the people of Kutch. You realise this even if you spend a few days visiting the areas that just a year ago were a mountain of rubble. People have lived through an incredibly difficult year. They have lived in tents and temporary shelters through the extremes of heat and cold.
But the fact that there have been few demonstrations or protests in Kutch or other parts of Gujarat do not suggest that the entire reconstruction effort has been a resounding success, regardless of what the Gujarat Government might claim.
For one, a district like Kutch, which was the worst affected, was particularly fortunate because it already had in place a coalition of non-governmental organisations that were working with the most-vulnerable communities when the earthquake struck.
They understood how disasters compounded the problems of the socially and economically marginalised. They also recognised the need for addressing these vulnerable groups specifically rather than hoping that they would automatically benefit from a reconstruction and rehabilitation programme.
As a result, the instances of vulnerable groups missing out on their rights completely are relatively few given the size of the disaster. And these groups have identified those people who have fallen through the cracks.
Through a combination of negotiation, and some protest, these needs are being addressed. But it is absolutely clear, that this would not have happened without the insistence of these civil society groups.
The second problem is that of corruption. In a sense, this is inevitable after every disaster. Governments work out packages for compensation.
These can be faulted, but even the best of packages fails because of the human frailties of the implementation machinery. Thus, if a junior engineer on a minimal salary is given the power to assess the damage and place a house within the lowest or highest category, the temptation to demand or accept a bribe is almost a given.
All over Gujarat, and particularly in Kutch, there are complaints that those with money have succeeded in getting the highest level of compensation while those without the ability to bribe have been placed at the bottom of the compensation package. As a result, in the week leading up to the anniversary of the earthquake, there were several parallel hunger strikes in Anjar, Bhachau and Rapar of people who had not received any compensation.
The problems of city dwellers have not even begun to be addressed yet. In the absence of town plans, people are not allowed to start rebuilding and compensation cheques cannot be distributed. As a result, urban residents have continued to live in temporary shelters for a year.
The Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, boasts that the majority of the houses being reconstructed are ``owner- driven''. But owners have to get their building plans passed by an accredited engineer. With cases pending against builders in Ahmedabad, engineers will be wary of certifying buildings. Even if they do pass plans, it is unlikely that this will be done without some consideration being paid.
Apart from physical reconstruction, the biggest unaddressed problem is the psychosocial needs of people. Once again, Kutch has been fortunate that groups like Oxfam India and Action Aid have been focussing specifically on this aspect.
According to their estimates, 30 to 60 per cent of people in the most-severely affected villages of Kutch have mild to moderate psychological needs. Children are the worst affected. The slightest tremor, or even a loud sound, frightens them.
At the end of 12 months, the singular lesson from the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in post-earthquake Gujarat is that disasters cannot be `managed' without taking on board existing social complexities.
Governments tend to ignore them or downplay their importance. In doing so, they succeed in perpetuating inequities.
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