Relief dwindles for the quake-hit

RAJKOT, FEB. 26. The initial zeal to bring succour to the victims of the devastating quake has faded in a month with non- governmental organisations and other voluntary agencies quitting the scene fast, leaving the survivors in virtual destitution. The situation now is quite different from what it was in the first fortnight of the quake when huge relief and numerous pledges poured in.

Today, survivors are left only with rubble with no group around to help them start life from the scratch.

More than 500 families of government employees at Morbi town in Rajkot district alone are still living without shelter.

Little efforts have been made to restore damaged historic monuments, which include Dwarkadheesh temple in Jamnagar, the Kirti Mandir in Porbander and several other Jain temples.

Unknown still is detailed assessment of losses in areas like Porbander, Junagarh, Amreli, Bhavnagar and parts of the Rajkot district, and long-term effect of the quake on the economy of Kutch and Saurashtra regions.

Gujarat, which contributed 70 per cent of the country's salt production, might suffer an economic setback once the salt pan manufacturing workers leave the State for good.

They say they will never return to Gujarat once they get money to travel to their home States, as a spate of natural disasters in the past three years has ``created permanent scars on their psyche''.

- UNI

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Section  : Other States
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