Trucks are now their home

Trucks are now their home
MILIND GHATWAI

RATNAL, FEB 4: This used to be a busy little hamlet. Its claim to fame was an average of one or more trucks per family. With hundreds of trucks parked on its entry point, a bit too many for a tiny village, it looked more of a transport godown.

The trucks that were the lifeline of the residents are still there but they don’t carry lignite like they did. After the earthquake, the trucks have been converted into their owners’ temporary homes or are being used to cart away the debris of what was once the owner’s house. The rubble has blocked all access routes to the village.

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But its residents say they have not given up. They will fight, and fight hard, to regain what they lost in the disaster. Standing atop the debris of his house Naranbhai Ahir somewhat dramatically announces: ‘‘We will rise. We won’t depend on the government largesse. Even if aid does not come our way we won’t mind.’’ His cousin adds: ‘‘If not tomorrow, maybe 10 years later, but rise we will.’’

Such resolve was what brought the village from obscurity to prominence in the 1970s when lignite mining started in Panandhro. One after the other, villagers jumped on the bandwagon, applying for loans and getting them in no time. The trucks carried lignite to all parts of the country. At the peak of the transport business, the village had as many as 1,000 trucks, given that the total population was just 5,000.

Of late, however, the population has grown but the fleet of trucks is depleting. The village stood on a stretch less than one sq km; today it has shrunk further.When asked for directions, Mahadevabhai asks with a wry face ‘‘Where is the village it has been wiped out?’’ Devji Changa who was nicknamed bhookamp by his friends for his sonorous voice, died along with at least 25 other villagers. Despite the gloom, the rest of the village seems to be reviving their entrepreneural skills. Rupabhai Ahir has converted his truck into a makeshift house to supplement a tent he made from tarpaulin used to cover lignite in transit.

The quake has occurred when the transport business was not doing all that well. Naranbhai Ahir says he had sold off 11 of his 17 trucks to recover money. He does not say what he is basing calculations on but declares: ‘‘I will start doing well in a matter of time.’’