I find the news of new kutch in Gujarat newspapers quite casual devoid of any insight into the making of new Kutch on the debris of earthquake of 2001. What transformed the cracked land of Kutch into a vast platform of synergy of all kind of powers showcasing Kutch in its true colours? Who are the real heroes of the metamorphosis of Kutch from a vast sleepy coastal district into a vibrant and fully active land? This is the untold story of the Kutch which has not found due place in media.

Gujarat newspapers are full of stories related to the devastating 2001 earthquake in Kutch and other parts of Gujarat as today, January 26, marked a decade of one of the worst natural calamities in the world. Though the earthquake affected many parts of Gujarat, it was Kutch, the border district of Gujarat, which bore brunt of the disaster. Epicentre of the earthquake was in Kutch.The story of creation of new Kutch lies in the devastating destruction of this border district in 2001. An earthquake of 6.9 on Richter scale hit the region on Jnauary 26,2001. At least 12221 persons died, 14383 were injured and houses of more than 12 lakh people were destroyed.

 After a decade when one looks back at the tragedy, Kutch again catches the attention. Now this district is the most happening place in Gujarat. A decade back it was one of the most unwanted and undesirable place, today it is the most sought after place not only in Gujarat but also in the country.

Anniversaries are the occasions to look back with an approach of review and assessment.  I had been to Kutch last month. I was stunned by the transformation of this district, second largest in the country. I stayed there for one week. However, it turned out to be a small period considering the vast distances of the district and the all round development of Kutch.

It was the incentive package that the central government and the state government offered to bring industries here. No doubt the then Prime Minister Atal Behari and Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel responded to the tragedy region with the most humane approach. But the most struggling and active role was by the then Industries Minister and in charge of Kutch district Suresh Mehta. Today, even in Kutch Suresh Mehta is just known as former Chief Minister of Gujarat and nothing more.

Suresh Mehta with all his shortcomings as a political leader deserves a special mention for his efforts for his Kutch. Suresh Mehta belongs to Mandvi in Kutch and has truly stood by people of Kutch and their interest while creating the foundations for this new Kutch attracting the world with the new identity of a most happening place. Even before the disaster he tilted industrial policy decisions in favour of his Kutch district .His rivals within and outside BJP admit thiseven today. But, both Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta lost their political future in the active fault lines of Kutch

Kutch Mitra, the most powerful daily from Kutch, has been an exception. It has always acknowledged the role of Suresh Mehta and Keshubhai in the reconstruction of Kutch. It is a Gujarati daily with much of its circulation confined to the Kutch district. Its editor Kirti Khatri is very vocal and balanced in his views about Kutch. Kirti Khatri says that local media played a very important role in the creation of this beautiful new Kutch.

The new Kutch has shown to policy makers, what people can do even with a half hearted incentive package. Kutch got close ended incentive package only for five year.  Managing Director of Federation of Kutch Industries Association, Nimish Fadke, who was very active in deliberations in getting the package still feels that Kutch should have been an open ended ten year package like other states.Former Finance Minister and presently MLA from Kutch district, Babu Meghji Shah `says that Kutchis have shown that they know how to make best of even such a scheme.

The other major development that has led to transformation of Kutch is the rehabilitation scheme for building houses. The Owner Driven Reconstruction (ODR) model used in Kutch established its effectiveness and now Kutch model is used in India and abroad with the help of NGOs who were engaged in earthquake hit Kutch.

Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was set up within a fortnight of the earthquake. Today GSDMA is one of the most power instruments in handling all kind of disaster right from natural calamities to manmade tragedies. These are three developments that have become almost role models in the country. There are numerous other stories strewn around Kutch which tell aloud about the indomitable spirit of the Kutchis who had lived in quite an inhospitable terrain till the starting of this century.

In this article Principal Secretary Industries and Mines, Gujarat, Maheswar Sahu pens his views about the reconstruction of Kutch which was severely affected by one of the worst earthquakes in 2001. Former Collector of Kutch Sahu was also the first CEO of Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority, a body constituted to reconstruct the earthquake affected area.

I went to Kutch for the first time in 1986 after getting posted as Collector, Kutch.  Before leaving for Kutch, I had been told by several well wishers the famous saying "when they enter Kutch they cry and when they leave Kutch then also they cry".  On my way to Kutch, I met with a serious accident of my life in which I had miraculously escaped.  Travelling with me were my wife and two little kids.  All of us remained unhurt but we had a lot of tears in our eyes our prayer to God for his blessings.  May be it was a good sign.  Three years I stayed and those three years were the most satisfying years in my civil service career with lots of love and affection from Kutchis for which they are known in the world.  This is despite the fact that in all those three years, we did not see a drop of rain.  In fact, in 1988, my daughter saw the first drop of rain in her life. 

I still remember the curiousness and smile on her face when she came out of the house to get drenched in the first rain when we saw the rain after three years.

In retrospect, when I see back those were the worst years Kutch ever experienced and it was the courage of the Kutchis which enabled them to survive in worst moments.  During that time also, the extent of hospitality I used to get when visiting the villages cannot be expressed in words.  I enjoyed travelling and had a rare distinction of travelling to almost all villages of Kutch.  My visit to Banni area had prompted me to attempt a crazy project of transporting sick animals by truck from Kutch to South Gujarat.  The co-operation &  faith of the people enabled us to ensure large scale migration of cattle from Kutch to South Gujarat.  Another crazy experience was to use the grass in the no man's land after India Bridge adjoining the Pakistan borders.  This met with mixed success. 
 

I still remember Bhuj was a sleepy town when the life of Bhuj was ending the Collector's Bungalow.  There was a large chunk of land known as Ravalwadi and people were not visiting that land even during the day time.  For the first time we attempted to give 100 sq. mtrs., of land each to the Government Servants in that area.  People were very reluctant.  By persuasion they took it.  After earthquake the area has developed so well that now I cannot afford to purchase land there.
 

When the earthquake struck Bhuj in January 2001, I went to the Control Room of the State to get an idea about the situation in Kutch out of sure curiosity and affection for the place in which I had spent three years of my valuable life.  To get a first hand idea, I visited Kutch next day and was surprised to see the mental resilience of the people in spite of enormous devastation there.  I stayed with a family friend in Bhuj.  His hospitability then was not less compared to earlier years.  
 

I become very happy when in 8^th February; I was made the first CEO of Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority - a body constituted to reconstruct the earthquake affected area.   

I am extremely happy that this Reconstruction Project became a landmark project in the world.

Ø  Housing was the most badly affected sector by the earthquake. But now boasts of owner-driven reconstruction with high awareness and usage of multi-hazard resistant technology.

Ø  Three, out of the five housing packages in GERRP, were designed specifically for rural housing with an emphasis on owner-driven multi-hazard resistant reconstruction strategy.

Ø  While there has been a visible improvement in the living conditions in the affected rural areas with pucca housing and provision of separate toilet and kitchen. However, households need to be made aware of the joint-ownership of the house to give due right to the woman of the house.

Ø  Two packages for reconstruction of urban dwelling units were announced with an emphasis on owner-driven multi-hazard resistant reconstruction strategy.

Ø  Agriculture was the source of employment for a majority of the affected population.  Hence, the restoration of the sector became a top priority. The assistance helped in mainly rehabilitating and restoring the situation to pre-earthquake levels.

Ø  Cottage and Village Industries, a vital component for economic development of Gujarat was affected with loss of assets, working capital and demand due to earthquake. Various kinds of assistances helped in restoring and increasing the employment and income levels.

Ø  Provision of better social support and encouragement through social services to women has an empowering impact on the whole society besides women.

Ø  The employment along with income level has grown and women are increasingly taking up higher roles in the employment activities.

Ø  With the sector employing more than half a million people in the affected districts, the trade sector was faced with loss of assets, inventory, working capital and demand.

Ø  Communities have gained from most of the aspects of the reconstructed urban infrastructure.

Ø  In roads, the connectivity with various places has increased, besides, the overall increase in the vicinity of houses with main roads. The congestion of narrow streets and over-bulging terraces has reduced drastically.

Ø  The contentment with the street lights, drainage, and sewerage system is high. However, the belief in the administration works would be strengthened only if the current good situation prevails for a long term.

Ø  In water supply, the pipe-connection has a higher reach among residents; however the critical factor would be frequency and the quality of water supply.  The time spent and distance traveled to collect water should be minimized for the whole community.

Ø  People have started to appreciate the important role played by community bins, garbage dumps, and garbage collection vehicles in the overall environment of the town.

Ø  People are satisfied with the various aspects such as time frame, public participation, implementation of town planning schemes.

Ø  A pro-people attitude was displayed by the administration post-earthquake, which people recognize and appreciate. The earthquake had a huge psychological toll on the students in the area besides killing and injuring thousands.

Ø  The region now has more number of schools and classrooms and even better facilities for children.

Ø  The government by timely reopening of schools helped save the academic year of thousands of students in the affected area.

Ø  The overall strategy, policy and mechanisms of the Government for enabling community responsive R&R have been effective.

Ø  There is recognition by multiple stakeholders that GoG was flexible and adopted a consultative process during the relief and rehabilitation phase.

Ø  While some gap between strategy and implementation-cum-management under work and time-pressures is to be expected in any situation, the housing and other R&R assistance package sizes and processes have enabled people to opt for individual beneficiary assistance rather than be a member of inter-dependent and supportive communities.

Ø  The momentum has not been sustained to a stage where community development and management issues could be addressed.  GoG' s organizational arrangements with multiple stakeholders indicated both, its flexibility and pragmatic approach to dealing with the situation and optimally utilizing all available skills and resources.

Ø  The coordination and monitoring procedures for greater transparency and effectiveness have been effective as could be seen from the access to information that community groups had.  However, the flexibility of the Government has been misused for ulterior motives.

Ø  Overall, after the construction phase, there is lesser NGO involvement for social and economic development at the village level while a new set of partnerships and collaborations are evolving in the urban areas.Read full story

Owner Driven Reconstruction  gift of Kutch
 

Owner Driven Reconstruction model developed during the rehabilitation of Kutch earthquake affected persons is fast becoming a popular model for rehabilitation of disaster affected people in India and abroad. The latest in the list is Bihar where the World Bank has agreed to fund the construction of one lakh houses based on the ODR model.

Sandeep Virmani who has been closely associated with the development of the Kutch model said that the World Bank liked the concept and has agreed to help finance the construction of one lakh houses. These houses are for the people affected by the flood in Kosi River in 2008, one of the worst disasters in Bihar. Sandeep Virmani is an architect by profession who is devoted to the cause of community life development by passion.

He said that one of the unique features of the Rehabilitation of the 2001 Kutch earthquake affected persons is the Owner Driven Reconstruction. This gives owners greater freedom in deciding about the construction. At the same time the Kutch model makes sure that all new buildings are disaster safe. Sandeep Virmani is working in the Kutch district for past two decades or so.

Explaining the concept in detail, Sandeep Virmani said that in the Owner Driven Reconstruction, the owner gets money for the reconstruction. He has a support mechanism for the construction of the house. It deals with technical help in the construction of house of certain fixed safety parameters relating to natural disaster.

In Kutch, Sandeep Virmani said, the houses are basically with seismic safety. In the case of Bihar, three kinds of disasters have been taken into account. They are floods, winds and seismic disasters. These three play important role here. In the ODR local needs and skills are also taken into account, he said.

Talking about Kosi rehabilitation, he said that the region is known for masonry skills of its people. They build houses of bamboos and bricks. The technical support package has taken both of these aspects into the consideration. In short, Sandeep Virmani said, you can have house of any shape, size or design. But it must have uniform technical strength to meet any kind of natural disaster.Read full story