INDIAN EARTHQUAKE

We have also received first-hand accounts of the Indian Earthquake from Circlers and Tablers in India:

FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF THE GUJARAT TRAGEDY

This is the first  hand account of the visit we made to Bhuj .Tr Manish Bhanushali , who belongs to Bhuj and had his entire family there was a nervous wreck and wanted to leave for his native place alone . We discouraged him as we did not know the magnitude of the problems .However after 12 hours of the earthquake on the 27th ,when no news of his relatives came and all dreadful news started pouring in he decided to go . We decided that he cannot go alone and 3 of us ,Tr Manoj Kapoor , Tr Minesh Shah ,and Tr Nayan Shah joined and we started the 400 kms journey in 2 cars . Since the trunk route was closed ,we took alternate route and reached Bhuj in 8 hours . As we entered Bhuj district we started feeling the impact .

 

 

The highway which connects rest of the country to bhuj had developed major cracks and depressions ,though small cars could pass through .We were incidentally the first batch of outsiders reaching the place .Bachau the first major town and the town that has undergone the maximum damage has been raised to ground totally .Only two half erect houses are seen on the entire facade of the landscape . All the survivors had fled and lined up the highway to be picked up by out going traffic which did not exist .Lighting of pyres had already started and continued till the time we returned at  1.30 am  . A population of 50000 wiped out from the land either dead or fled .Bachau is 77  kms from Bhuj . After crossing Bachau we did not expect anything at all .All the small villages enroute were completely destroyed and grazed to ground . We entered bhuj at 8pm in pitch darkness and eerie silence . Luckily the damage that we saw initially was contrary to our expectations . All the buildings in the newer part of bhuj were significantly damaged yet had not collapsed . Though there was no electricity we could feel that human loss was not as compared to what we had seen earlier . On reaching the Tablers place we heaved a sigh of relief as  most of the local people had gotten together and saved as many as possible .After realising our first target ,we proceeded in the darkness to see what all had happened . The older city which was enclosed in olden day fort and housed more than 1.5 lakh people was completely destroyed .A conservative estimate puts the death toll at 50000 at this place itself .The heart rendering stories that were told to us cannot be reproduced .Heaps of rubble lay silent witness to gods wrath  . No intact building could be seen  .People had no supplies of any kind .The entire focus being Ahmedabad initially did not allow focus on bhuj .  A few  service organisations had started skeletal helping services . We stayed there  for 4 hours in which I met the doctors and came to know of thier requirements and also met officials and asked them of the intensity ,which was confirmed by them . The requirements of the doctors was immediately met by us and sent across .

 

 

We started our return journey at 11.30 pm and reached Ahmedabad at 8.30 am . At 6.30 am we were hit by another earthquake of 5.9 intensity . With gods grace and all  the friends blessings we accomplished a task which looked dangerous ,life threatening and next to impossible .

 

 

 

Tr   MANOJ KAPOOR .  

 

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