Bhuj begins to cremate its dead, fears of epidemic loom

Bhuj begins to cremate its dead, fears of epidemic loom
SONU JAIN & MILIND GHATWAI

BHUJ, JANUARY 28: Death struck so violently that the town of Bhuj is still numb, three days and two terrible nights after the earthquake. The faces are blank and the dead bodies handled almost indifferently.

For Usman Alag, warming himself by a bonfire, it looks like any other day in Bhuj when the mercury plummets. It takes a while for you to understand that the white bundles kept near him were his young brother-in-laws.

Ajit Rautrai, 20, and Kaviraj Vishal, 25, have dug out so many bodies in the last 24 hours that they think they have done enough for the human beings and should take care of the machine. ‘‘It’s working for the past 10 hours and needs rest,’’ Vishal says almost nonchalantly.

At Lohana Sansthan crematorium in the heart of the town, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers go about consigning the dead to the flames without uttering a word, their face not belying any emotions. In 48 hours, the small crematorium has accounted for 305 bodies. ‘‘Normally, in a year the crematorium receives 200 bodies,’’ informs Rasikbhai Thakkar.

There are four others crematoria that have been receiving the dead by the dozens. ‘‘Since we were short of wood, we used to pile as many as we could and burn them,’’ says a worker looking heaps of wood arriving from all sides.

Elsewhere, the body of a young boy lies in the open. ‘‘Since nobody has yet laid claim, it will remain there,’’ says a hospital worker.

As the dead lay buried under the debris, the fear of diseases has begun to stalk the region. However, relief workers and vehicles continued to pour into the street of Bhuj today, bringing hope to what has become the landscape of the dead and debris.

There are more relief workers out on the streets than the citizens. Wood for funerals, clothing, food and medicines are pouring in by the truck-fulls. In fact, the aid is coming in such large number that the administration is unable to distribute it in the most judicious way. The entire RSS machinery has been pressed into action from places as far as Andhra Pradesh. The locals pointed out that almost everybody in the city had at least lost one relative, so it was important that help came from outside.

The Air Force base has been working round the clock. In fact, the control room that has been set up has lost count of the number of sorties that have been made. The Jubilee ground has been converted into a makeshift camp for the injured. Nearly 200 doctors have been flown in. Nearly 150 State transport buses have been pressed into action and the Army and RAF has been deployed in various parts of the city to clear the debris.

Out of all the help that has been promised from the rest of the country and outside, the sniffer dog, tents and gas cutters are in. The more sophisticated machinery like X-ray machines which would be able to detect humans beneath the debris is still awaited. However, the residents feel that it will too late before they come.

They are now plagued with a fear which comes in the aftermath of such tragedies: the outbreak of diseases as a result of rotting dead bodies. Local residents held a meeting with the collector today requesting him to fumigate the entire city by tomorrow morning. ‘‘The foul smell has already started coming. I dread what will happen to those living, even if (you) forget those dead now,’’ said Navinbhai Lallan, a Lions Club office-bearer.

The administration is still charting out its next course of action. Defense Minister, George Fernandes said that they were prepared to deal with any situation now and that diseases breaking out would be a remote possibility.

The city and other cities on the 200-km radius remained cut off with no electricity, water or telephones. Many petrol pumps had near-riot situation with long queues. Police had to be stationed to see that the supply was rationed for every vehicle.Apart from the high-rises which have been affected, the worst hit, the old city, has almost been wiped out. The loss of life has been maximum there and since the streets are narrow, few bulldozers can even enter the market to clear the debris. The result is that people are retrieving the bodies here with their bare hands.

Also, with the entire city being wiped out, it also marks the end of Bhuj as a historical city. The market was built more than 100 years ago with six (nakas) lanes leading to the Aina Mahal, the palace of Madan Sinh Rao. Today, it is just the Aina Mahal which managed to withstand the earthquake.

Today, Fernandes visited the affected areas once again and admitted that the toll of casualties could easily go up to 20,000 and even more. He reviewed the rescue operation saying that ‘‘he was very concerned in the morning’’ but later in the evening said that ‘‘by this evening help would have reached to all the affected areas.’’

He also held an hour-long meeting with Keshubhai Patel, the chief minister of the state and gave him his impressions after visiting the affected areas.

According to him, Power Minister Suresh Prabhu has promised that electricity would be restored by tomorrow and that the water supply would shortly follow. Regarding telephones, he said that some of the lines would be restored this evening. ‘‘I have already asked for more satellite phones which can be used by the eneral public and should be in by now,’’ he said.

He admitted that it was Bachau, Anjhar and Rapar that were the worst-hit and needed immediate attention. ‘‘Yesterday, when I visited Anjhar, there were ugly scenes. People seem to be getting desperate there and I had ordered immediate action,’’ he said.

The situation in Morbi was not as bad as he thought it would be. The other thing which was on his priority list was that adequate police protection. In many areas there are only 30 constables and four officers like in Anjhar guarding the entire population of one lakh. He has promised them protection.

He also dismissed the fat that there was any sceintific basis in the reports suggesting that there would be another major earthquake. ‘‘The head of the meteorology department had been called by the Cabinet and he had said that with every successive tremor in the area, the intensity was coming down, so there is no cause for worry,’’ he said.