The Hindu Business Line : Kutch revisited -- With rubble & uncertainty for company

BHUJ, Anjar and Bachhau in Kutch district live alone in the ruins of last year's earthquake, with the choking rubble piling up in select corners of the towns. In the inner walled town of Bhuj, goldsmiths and cloth merchants carry on with business from the ground floors of cracked shops while in the bazaar, the vegetable markets and auto ancillary shops transact in zest, almost trying to forget the quake which broke their lives.

"We filled up the cracks in the walls with cement to start business," said a goldsmith in Bhuj as Hindu and Muslim women sampled gold ornaments and discussed prices.

As we stepped out of the train at New Bhuj Station, one spotted the familiar face of Hashim Khan, the autorickshaw driver who drove us around Bhuj some months ago. He knew we were patrakars (journalists) and took us to Hotel Prince, which today is as fit as it once was. At the reception, Vaishnav recognised Paul and me and wished us a good stay before allotting rooms.

Blowing sand dust, black fumes from an aged pack of lorries and other assorted vehicles along with a hot sun firmly wrap and pack those on the streets. From Hotel Prince, Hashim Khan drove us through the inner walled city to Prag Mahal Palace and Aina Mahal, which stood shakily on bent frames. The famed clock tower is in place but the rest of the royal structure is falling apart with every strong gust from the Kutch desert.

We asked a lone watchman for Raghuraj Sinh Jadeja and were taken to a two-room cement bloc with an asbestos roof resting on the broken wall of what was once the old royal living quarters. Raghuraj Sinh came out in a white jibba, kurta and chappals, smoking his made-to-order cigarettes and welcomed us to his 10x10 sitting room.

"My family lives here among the ruins. Under the Heritage Act, my two brothers and uncle should have got a grant of Rs 2 lakh each, but the Government clubbed us together and four days ago sent us a cheque for Rs 80,000. My mother got a separate cheque for Rs 50,000. I have deposited the cheques in the bank," he says casually as if nothing can disappoint or surprise him anymore. That is also the attitude of the ordinary Kutchi who reads and hears of numerous Government plans framed in faraway Ahmedabad.

Sinh waves away any inquiry on financial help to restore the heritage buildings and adds, "There is talk in the air of funds coming from international funding agencies such as the Asian Development Bank and the French Government, but nothing has come yet."

After a round of coffee Raghuraj Sinh takes us around the place, where at corners we saw piles of old doors, windows and other artefacts for possible future use. "All the wood is teak and well crafted. Anyone recreating the royal surroundings can use them," Sinh said. A family of bats extending to possibly three or four generations whimper loudly from the wooden ceiling as we cross a long passage to Aina Mahal. Two student architects working under R.J. Vasavada in Ahmedabad are trying to recreate the royal surroundings on paper; they think work should start fast as otherwise the Prag Mahal Palace could collapse on its base. Some of the small and big arches have come off their feet, with one hanging perilously in the air.

From royalty the auto moved to the old city. In most areas the rubble had been cleared and vehicles could move easily. Most of the splintered four- and five-storied co-op housing societies still stand sans human beings.

Behind the shutdown Central Jail in Macchara Fariya area, a Muslim family came out of a tent to tell us that nothing much had happened. "After the first grant of Rs 12,000 from the Government, we have been forgotten," complained a youngster.

The lone point of construction activity is the site of the 50-year old Govardhanbhai Ketsi General Hospital (G.K. General Hospital), which was flattened by the quake. Tall L&T cranes and dumpers with teams of workers are building a better hospital facility, with the foundation work almost over. "For Bhuj it's a matter of pride," says Hashim Khan. Most of Bhuj's citizens stand near the place for a minute before moving on.

Most of the town's citizens have been relocated to temporary shelters, like the one behind the GIDC colony, or the villages. Some 1,000 cement and tin-roofed shelters with electricity and water supply have come up in the area, with most of its residents belonging to the Lohana community. "We received a grant of Rs 12,000 per family from the Government and then our community leaders chipped in with Rs 7,000 to build us a shelter each," said a woman washing clothes outside her 10x10 home. Such shelters have been built by various international and local agencies in Anjar and Bacchau as the Government does not permit any construction work in the towns.

At a laundry in Anjar, Pranlal Ratilal was ironing clothes in a ground floor cubicle which he repaired with a Government loan. Broken homes lay round the cubicle while others moved around selling vegetables and kites for Makara Sankranti. At Bachhau, we came across a cloth merchant working out of a cement hole on the edge of the road leading from the main road to the interior. "There was some good business over the past two months due to marriages. Par abhi dhanda thanda hai (But now business is down)," the merchant admitted.

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Kutch revisited -- With rubble & uncertainty for company