One reason it took so long for the administration to creak into gear is because officials are yet to be posted in this district, created by then chief minister Mayawati on September 17, 1997. ``We have only 19 officers whereas we have submitted to the government several times an outline that shows the basic requirement for the district's functioning is 182 officers,'' says Additional District Magistrate S K Dwivedi. ``We don't even have a proper office. We have converted the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam dormitory into our office,'' he says.

The decision to create the district was a politicalone, seizing upon the long-standing demand of the people, who pointed out that basing the district headquarters at Gopeshwar, 75 km away, was unfair. The state's 83rd district, it was carved out of Tehri, Chamoli and Pauri.

``Till yesterday, things were slow. Today we have 24 teams, totalling 144 people in the field. The district magistrate and superintendent of police are receiving Sharad Pawar at Agastmani today, so I decided to stay back to supervise things,'' Dwivedi says.

Earlier in the day, he held a meeting with additional commissioner Jangpani to sort out the transport problems. ``Naturally, we have a shortage of vehicles also. In hilly areas, light vehicles are needed. We have only five jeeps of which two jeeps are with the Block Development Officers (BDOs). If we had more officials, they would have had more vehicles,'' Dwivedi says.

The shortage of manpower is crucial in a situation where villagers are sleeping in the open.

``We have to reach tents as soon as possible to remote villages. Inall villages, people are sleeping outdoors because they are afraid of another earthquake. In the plains, people can sleep outdoors but never in the hills.

In Jakholi block, a leopard killed six people last month. And the BDO of Jakholi told me that when the earthquake occurred and he ran into the fields, a leopard was also running behind him. It was apparently confused because of the earthquake,'' says Dwivedi.

Pushpa Devi, 53, pradhan of Tyunkhar village, Jakholi, along with several villagers, pleads for help. ``There are 250 families living in the open. We have small children who can be lifted by leopards anytime. Last month, a leopard killed a girl in the neighbouring village. The next problem is of water. Our pipeline was destroyed by the earthquake which killed two people in our village. Nobody has visited us. So we have come 34 km to ask for help,'' she says.

Astonishingly, the post of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) does not exist in Rudraprayag. ``You see the boundaries of the new Rudraprayagdistrict do not apply in medical matters. Everything is as before. I am deputy CMO, Chamoli, and I look after a phase here because this part of Rudraprayag was part of Chamoli district. Similarly in the parts that belonged to Tehri and Pauri, the medical officers of the parent districts are incharge. Also there is no additional budget for Rudraprayag. Money comes from the parent districts. We don't have anything to do with the district administration because that comes under the state-held department at Lucknow,'' explains Dr L S Tolia at the tiny six-bed hospital.

Sources say medical operations have been comparatively better. ``We have 19 medical teams at work, there are teams from outside, from even Ghaziabad.''Tolia says medical personnel have pooled money to buy fuel for ambulances. ``Whatever medicines, bandages, disinfectants, powders etc were needed, we got from our hospital buffer stock. We managed but if the calamity had been larger we might not have coped,'' he says.