An Eyewitness’ Account of Death, Horror And Misery

Thursday, February 01,2001


ANJAR: Back from the brink of death from Anjar in Gujarat, one of the many towns razed to the ground in the recent earthquake, Umang Bhattacharya and his group of 24 students and 3 teachers who survived the tragedy are a changed lot. The group from Bangalore's Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology was on a tour of the Kutch region of Gujarat to study its socio-economic dimensions.

Miraculously, in a town of 90% casualties, the entire group from the college survived: some because they slept under a wooden roof and others because of being on the road when the earthquake hit. Excerpts (for chowk) from an interview by Shauravi Malik.



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Can you recount the situation you'll were in at the time of the earthquake?

We were travelling in phat-phattis (taxis) - that's 14 of us to be precise, on our way to see the Glass Palace in Bhuj. At first it was only loud drumming and a sudden sense of disorientation because there were animals running all over the place. It took a few seconds to realize that it was actually an earthquake. When we got off the vehicle and felt the tremors on the road we were wonderstruck. Awed. We were there as it happened.

What were the first visual images you saw?

Right at the beginning the bigger picture of devastation did not hit us. Until we saw a man running out of the dust holding his child. The child's leg was mutilated. Even as we felt the tremors we saw buildings crumbling to the ground. The enormity of the quake had still not hit us. We turned back to return to Anjar to the rest of our group. We went through the interiors of Bhuj. Virtually everything had collapsed. There were five-storeyed buildings reduced to rubble and whatever was left was hanging in the air at ridiculous angles. The visibility because of the dust was still very low. Our entire experience until then had been like a film. Like a set coming down in moments. It felt unreal. In a few seconds there was complete mayhem on the roads of Bhuj.

How did both halves of your group meet up? How were you'll rescued?

We were thrown off our phat phattis which were then used as ambulances. All vehicles on the road were being stopped with violence. Passengers were thrown out in desperate attempts to save dying victims. We hitched rides on trucks to Anjar, 40 km off Bhuj. This is where we were all staying. At a classmate's old ancestral house in Nandi Chowk in the heart of old Anjar. 10 of our classmates and two faculty members were sleeping in the house at the time the earthquake occurred. As we were entering the outskirts of Anjar, some of the house looked intact and we hoped and assumed that all of Anjar would be alright. The next few hours were the scariest moments I have ever experienced in my life. When we got to the entrance of Old Anjar, all that lay ahead of us was kilometres of rubble. Sheer rubble. We ran all the way from where the truck dropped us, to the entrance point, only to find that we couldn't enter because there were no lanes. There were three large dying cows lying on the ground and a row of mutilated bodies being carried out. That's when half our group went completely hysterical. We just couldn't go on. Tremors were still coming and the debris was extremely dangerous. So we stood most of the group outside and 4 of us ventured in. From the very first step people kept discouraging us from going in any further. Because Nandi Chowk didn't exist anymore along with the rest of Anjar. The four of us were choking. We couldn't breathe. We couldn't think. We were numb. And all we knew was that we had to get to the rest of our group. We were stepping over bodies, clawing at them to get past. Moving on like Zombies. There were arms sticking out of the debris, bodiless voices, muffled screams for help. Children howling. But we just kept moving on. It felt like a nightmare. We got lost. There were no recognisable landmarks, no standing signboards. What should have taken us 5 minutes on a normal day took us 40 minutes. By this time injured survivors had surfaced. People, who had lost their entire families. They were distributing water to rescuers. We found the house, because for some strange reason the tree in the courtyard was still standing. We recognised it by the leaves. Our first reaction was to shout out for the rest of our group. We were made to shut up within seconds by all those around us. We needed to hear the cries of those buried under the debris. There was pin-drop silence. All one could hear in that humungous graveyard were feeble cries and people moaning for help, for water. There was no sign of our group in the house. We were told by rescuers that the group was alive and had just walked off a few minutes back. Our first reaction was of disbelief. It just didn't seem possible. We searched around the area for a while. There wasn't any sign of them. Now began a seven-hour search to locate them within Anjar. They had been whisked away to a camp on the outskirts of Anjar. That moment, seven hours later when we met each other, was absolute pure joy, though for a short while.

What were the arrangements like in Anjar after the earthquake, given that it is so close to the epicentre?



Even though we spent the night at Gandhidham, some of us had come back the next morning. There were no substantial relief from government-aided bodies. Though pandals had been installed in every open maidan, within a few hours of the earthquake. Locals were cooking food in large quantities. No one was going hungry the first day. The hospital didn't exist anymore. A doctor was on the pavement, injured, asking for help. Of course, there was no electricity or any sort of communication. Given the resources, all the medical aid that was being given out was being given out in the pandals.

Given the trauma that I'm sure many of your group are going through, how have you tried to deal with the immense shock and, furthermore, guilt that you felt?

For the first few days, most of my group members couldn't enter a building. What has been most hard for most of us to deal with is having come out alive as a group of 27 in a place where not one family was whole anymore. Along with a sense of relief, comes an enormously sick feeling in your stomach, of guilt. We are all just trying to get on with it. Doing something or the other. Anything to keep us busy.

Could you just mention in brief what you all were trying to do?

When I got back home, I felt I wasn't needed here. I felt like I had turned my back on people whose suffering I had briefly shared. I considered going back. I wasn't sure how I was going to help, once there. All I knew was I that I had to do something. It was my father who convinced me that I would probably be most effective in using resources available in a city like Delhi. I could use my first hand experience to sensitise people in the city. Which is what most of us have been trying to do since our return. Also there is a lot of money and resources that people want to send in, but they aren't quite sure of how to go about it and are sceptical of 'regular' channels.

What sort of help were you trying to provide? How do you think NGOs fit into the picture?

We were on an environmental exposure trip trying to understand a system of people, ecology and economy. While we were in Gujarat, we came in contact with a number of NGOs, including Jan Vikas and KMVS (Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan). A number of these NGOs have been in Kutch for over a decade. They have worked most closely with local resources and people. These organizations have built a relationship of trust with the Kutchis. Like I said earlier, a lot of people want to help but they don't know how. It just so happens that I came in contact with Jan Vikas, I feel they are a reliable organization. I am not in a position to comment about others.

Given all that you are trying to do, have you been able to spend much time with your family at all? How do you deal with the cynicism and despair that I'm sure you felt?

I am alive, and so are my family members. Sadly there are not many Kutchis I can say that about. I have come from the heart of Kutch where I watched it collapse within 30 seconds. This not about doing a 2-day cut and paste job, these guys need help. And whatever various spokespersons from various departments may claim, things WILL NOT be OK within a month, or even two.

What are some of the issues that you feel people away from the earthquake front need to be sensitised about?

I would like all of us sitting at home to close our eyes and imagine all our family members to be dead. Our houses gone. And then to open our eyes and feel for the Kutchis with a little more sensitivity and feeling. I am not saying that people are not doing anything at all or that they don't care. I am sure all of us do feel for them. But you must not underestimate your ability as an individual to help.

Would you say that the anger, unhappiness and distress that you all felt at the time, has been channelled to a sort of positive energy and a zeal to try and make things better?

I am not trying to change the world here. Just trying to be a little more proactive than reactive.



(Umang has gone back to Anjar, as promised to himself)