REHABILITATION ASPECTS
The costly road to rehabilitation (Times of India,
30-01-01)
The cost of putting Gujarat back on its feet will run
into thousands of crore. The earthquake will not only hit gross domestic product (GDP) of
the country but will also increase the projected fiscal deficit.
……the good news in this sea of destruction accrues only to cement
companies. Their shares, which has been going down for a long time, improved on Monday in
anticipation of the increased demand of the commodity for the reconstruction of the
devastated region. Share prices of companies like Gujarat Ambuja cement and Gujarat Siddhi
Cement Ltd., which operate in the state, improved during the days trading. In fact, some
of the companies have decided to review the cement price: chairman of Aditya Birla Group,
on Monday at Mumbai said that they would review the price as the demand for the commodity
is likely to go up as the reconstruction activity picks up.
Earthquake Economics. (the Tribune, 31-01-01)
The country, not just Gujarat, will need about Rs
15,000 crore to rebuild all those houses which have crumbled. And the centre has to fund
it, since even the government of a rich state cannot find this amount from its own or
private sources. Union Finance Minister Yshwant Sinha has dismissed reports of a Gujarat
Surcharge as "speculation", and not a baseless rumour. He should rethink the
issue and for once generate a fell good factor by asking tax payers to do their bit to
make Gujarat stand on its legs. He is not likely to do this since he is averse to owning
up ideas not his or his Ministry's. The alternative is to ask for a massive loan from the
World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. It could be as much as $ 5 billion and the WB
team scheduled to visit the state soon will have no difficulty in clearing it.
The Ugly and the beautiful. Over to private
initiatives in relief and rehabilitation' (Indian Express, 31-01-01)
'Rehabilitation of the displaced to get priority'
(Times of India, 13-02-01)
……Worried over the dents in its bastion in
the state, the central BJP leadership is now pinning hopes of refurbishing its image, with
a well-planned rehabilitation package for the affected.
50 high-rise bldgs in Bhuj have collapsed (Times of
India, 13-02-01)
...meanwhile, efforts are being made to provide relief
to around 35,000 quake-affected in Morbi, Maliya and Wakaner areas by arranging makeshift
shelters. Forty wagons loaded with tin sheets have been allocated for Rajkot district in
this regard.
The steel Authority of India have allocated similar 40
wagons of tin sheets for the affected people. It is learnt that each family would be
provided with six to eight tin sheets. This would enable the district administration to
provide 'semi-houses' for the affected till pucca houses are constructed for them.
Rehabilitation and reconstruction package for quake
victims (Times of India, 14-02-01)
Gujarat government on Tuesday announced a
rehabilitation and reconstruction package for the earthquake victims.
Conceptualised by a task force, its recommendations were first scrutinised by the
high-powered Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority before getting the approval of
the state cabinet at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel here.
Excluding the worst quake-hit taluka towns of Bhuj, Anjar, Rapar and Bhachau, the
ambitious rehabilitation and reconstruction package to be implemented shortly in other
areas located in seismic zone five category, but including Ahmedabad, would entail
thousands of crores of rupees, Keshubhai Patel told reporters.
The Chief Minister said since the four taluka towns in Kutch district were
devastated completely by the natural calamity, a separate comprehensive package denoting
relocation of the affected population would be announced shortly. (PTI)
'Rebuild the right way, insist activists' (Times of
India, 14-02-01)
Some prominent activists have written to Chief
Minister Keshubhai Patel to keep in mind certain basic principles of reconstruction and
rehabilitation before handing over villages in Kutch to corporates and other
organisations. Their main concerns are that the mistakes of Latur should not be repeated
here.
…. In Latur, for instance, concrete boxes were built, completely useless to
the people of the region and their lifestyle.
The signatories insist rehabilitation means rebuilding entire villages and
residents should be made part of the process as their lives will be affected.
"Already we are creating a community of dependants with the sort of relief mechanism
we have.. Instead, we should try and create self-reliant villages."
Their letter infact, says that instead of companies and builders, representatives
of the affected people, NGOs and the local government, should form a body that takes
decisions on rehabilitation with funds coming from outside. According to them, the people
of the region should be involved in the decision-making process at all stages and there
should be complete transparency on part of the government and the donor agencies.
….. their list of 16 principles includes immediately shifting to employment
generation plans and food-for-work schemes so that the affected people have some
livelihood. The letter also asks the government to avoid relocation as far as possible. If
it is the last option, consent should be taken frome ach falia and mohalla.
'Orphans can be adopted, not villages' (Mihir Bhatt,
Times of India, 14-02-01)
…there are two challenges. One, we need to get
priorities right, that is, first focus on work and livelihood. Second, focus on water and
community infrastructure. And third, focus on shelter and services.
….Latur model can only be a starting point for Gujarat. Gujarat model must be
far more progressive on social front, cost effective on economic front, and safer on
physical construction front. Let us not mix up a baseline with endline.
….Relocation is a difficult area. Latur has much to teach. First, relocation
should be decided by the affected villagers or victims. Do they want to move? Do the poor
and Dalits among them want to move? Second, need for relocation changes from week to week
as psychological impact of the shock changes over passage of time. Often people find that
they want to go back to their damaged buildings.
Third, relocation means cost of land as well as community infrastructure of water,
light road, school etc. This cost will be different for each village. Can, equity be
maintained in such circumstances? Fourth, relocation may mean safer location, but that
does not mean safer buildings.
….Orphans are adopted. The victim villages are neither orphans nor helpless.
From what we see from the NGOs and also government experience, the victims are recovering
with great energy and efforts. Instead of adopting, we must find ways to see how these
efforts and energies can be enhanced - by providing resources, support and technical
assistance where needed…..
The best ways to judge the rehabilitation plans will
be to see how well the plans seek our opportunities - social and economic - of reducing
vulnerability of the poor.
Voluntary organisations to adopt 24 villages. (Times
of India, 21-02-01)
"90 % Kutch Villagers reject relocation, upset
rehab plans (Times of India, 28-02-01)
….the feedback has delivered a severe blow to the
state government's Rs. 1.50 Crore per village scheme of 'adoption' of villages by
non-government organisations which was entirely based on the assumption that the villages
would be relocated.
….the response from 9 out of 10 villagers that they would like to be
rehabilitated at the same site may cause problems because the government was thinking in
terms of integrating both the interim and permanent structures.
'We had based our calculations on the presumption that most of the one-room temporary
structures would use pre-fabricated material which would be used in the permanent two-room
structures to be built at the same spot', said one official in Gandhinagar. However if the
temporary structures are to be made ready by June 30 at a relocated place and the
permanent structures at the original site of the village, it would not only enhance the
cost and logistics but also the time taken.
'Not only will the debris have to be removed but shifting the temporary structures
to permanent sites in the coming months will be a headache which all of us would like to
avoid', said a senior official co-ordinating relief. Besides, officials said, it is not
yet clear if those whose houses have been only slightly damaged will be entitled to all
the benefits that the government wants to bestow on the affected persons.
"There are several policy issues which are yet to be addressed, in fact, it is
a learning process for us also as everyday is throwing up new problems, new issues",
said an official. In the urban areas, it is not clear whether the tenancy rights of those
who were staying in rental accommodations will be honoured once temporary or permanent
structures are built.
'Houses for quake-hit by June may not be feasible,
says govt' (Times of India, 28-02-01)
The Gujarat Government on Monday gave the indication
that its plan to provide eight lakh permanent one-room houses by June 30 in the
quake-affected areas might not be feasible.
An official note of the information department on Monday talked of merely giving
'temporary' or 'liveable' accommodation to the quake victims of the worst-affected towns
of Bhuj, Anjar, Bhachau and Rapar and also to 7,900 affected villages of Gujarat instead
of 'permanent one-room houses' as announced by Chief Minister recently.
The state government was preparing a Rs. 45 crore plan for providing 'temporary shelters'
to the quake victims of the four towns, according to senior officials on Monday. Many
others are likely to seek accommodation of their own. A permanent plan for rehabilitating
the residents of four towns, costing over Rs 1,000 crore, will finally be ready within the
next three days.
The total number of families in the four worst-affected towns and the nearby
villages rendered homeless is estimated at 2.45 Lakh. The permanent accommodation, concede
senior officials now, is "not possible by June 30". It might take "atleast
one-and-a-half years", a bureaucrat said.
The temporary accommodation, to last through the monsoon, would be "provided
to the affected families by recycling usable materials from the debris of the collapsed
houses and new construction materials with the participation of the people", the note
said, suggesting that the euphoria of "providing" free permanent accommodation
to the quake victims by June 30 is coming to an end.
While top government officials surrounding Chief Minister till now kept on saying
there was no question of "temporary accommodation", senior expersts such as
Prof. Sudershan Iyengar, director, Gujarat Institute of Development Research, insisted the
government was "not clear about providing temporary accommodation". Based on
field experience, they added, people needed lot of time to think which type of housing
they needed.
'Relocation delimma continues to flummox state
government'. (Times of India, 9-03-01)
'Even as the Gujarat Government is getting ready to
begin long-term rehabilitation work, there is utter confusion on whether to rebuild the
affected towns and villages of Kutch at the same place or to relocate them.
……. not more than 10 percent of villages appear ready for relocation, and
there seems to be considerable opposition from local communities in the urban centres on
this matter. With panchayat elections been postponed, there is no mechanism to call
gramsabhas to arrive at a consensus in villages.
…Relocation seems to be a more viable option, at least in towns, because that
oviates the need for removing debris which is proving to be a Herculean task.
…But if the local communities are opposing relocation that is also because of
practical reasons. "There is no government policy about legal rights of owners of
destroyed houses and this is creating problems and even making many who earlier agreed to
relocate to reverse their views,"says a senior official.
… Other than the issue of land rights, the main reason for people refusing to
shift is economic. For instance, goldsmiths have been traditionally living above the shop
they owned.
…..The problem is that in these circumstances, the view of the upper caste
prevails in village after village. In Bhachao taluka's two villages, Vondh and Chobari,
for instance, the landless have been placed in vulnerable areas. In Vondh, they are living
in the open on a plot of land belonging to an Ahir landowner, as no government land is
available.
The landowner now wants the landless to vacate. In Chobari, they have been shifted
to a village pond area, which will face water logging during monsoon. Upper caste people,
on the other hand, have temporarily shifted to the agricultural land they own'
'Despite timely aid, rehabilitation slow in Gujarat
(Times of India, 27-03-01)
Caught in the grip of another calamity, a severe
drought, Gujarat is yet to find its feet on the rehabilitation of earthquake victims two
months after the massive tremor devastated the state.
….The promised 800 million dollar credit line
from the World Bank and Asian Development bank is also awaited…
…Rehabilitation was also stuck as the Gujarat
government was finding it tough to finalise a relocation policy, said leading social
activist Achyut Yagnik… Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel had earlier this month
announced that the government planned complete relocation of four worst-hit areas in Kutch
district - Bhuj, Bhachau, Rapar and Anjar. Except in Anjar, the suggestion had met stiff
resistance from the people, who are refusing to be uprooted, said Yagnik. Town planners
and social activists suggest that the people be allowed to stay if they want to.
…..The chief minister, who heads the Gujarat
Disaster Management Authority, set up to implement the rehabilitation package, has
promised that every family rendered homeless will have at least a room by June.
Meanwhile, NGO reports from Kutch say the affected
populace is still living in tents, many under plastic sheets. Unseasonal rains in Rapar
last week added to the people's woes. Debris is yet to be cleared from many affected
areas. Sixty days after the earth shook, Gujarat is still unstable.
'Quake Victims scoff at new shelters' (Times of India,
18-04-01)
Built by the Mayur Foundation, 108 houses were meant
to house the village population of 573. Also most of the villagers were awe-struck by the
pomp and show put up by the foundation to give away the houses…..
About the houses without any flooring, some villagers said the foundation could
have used the money spent for the minister's welcome for the flooring, which would have
helped them in the monsoon season.
Several other villagers were of the opinion that it
was not possible to stay in just one room. "We have a large family and all we have is
this one room" said Shantaben
….."the state government's reconstruction
plan lacks practicality. Most villagers are unwilling to shift. As per a government survey
of 1,096 villages, only 22 percent of the villagers are willing to shift……..
….the machinery, the government and other things required to build houses were
inadequate. The number of quake-affected is so large that it will take years to provide
houses to all….
….the government distribution of 8 corrugated tin sheets of 5'X10' and 2 bags
of cement to each affected family can only be used to construct an osari (verandah of 150
sq. feet).
- This clearly explains the sequence of decisions
regarding rehabilitation of the earthquake affected. As mentioned before, the private
initiatives in relief and rehabilitation have been encouraged for the first time to
attract huge resources that are needed to undertake rehabilitation on such a large scale.
- Accordingly the government embarked on a
large-scale rehabilitation package designed in less than a month after the earthquake
struck the area. The villages were supposed to be 'adopted' by big corporates and other
NGOs and relocation was proposed for all the villages with 70% destruction and more. One
wonders at the perceptions of the government behind giving the logic for outright
relocation.
- Experienced and enlightened people warned the
government against repeating the mistakes of Latur and other rehabilitation work that has
failed to produce desired result in long run. However continued to stick to its stand.
- In a month, we hear the news that 90% villagers
have already rejected the relocation plans of the government. One asks why did they do so.
Obviously they must be having lot of reasons related to their livelihood and cultural
association values to the original place. Community participation was projected as one of
the goals by the government but did the government had time to discuss the issue of
relocation with the communities. They were more interested to make attractive
announcements that can fetch them votes. Also one wonders if real community participation
will take place after all, in the light of existing power structures.
- Moreover, earlier the government promised to make
permanent shelters by June 15th . However, later realising the difficulty in actual
execution, they went back on their promise and started to talk about providing temporary
shelters in the same time. The government later on extended the deadline for permanent
shelters by one and a half years. The logic for relocation is also cited that such
temporary shelters can gradually be converted into permanent houses. So in a way we find
total confusion regarding provision of shelters
- Later, In March, we find that there is still
confusion regarding relocation and there continues to be opposition from the local
communities against relocation. Various reasons for this opposition are now coming in
light.
- By the middle of April, we find first signs of
dissatisfaction to the new shelters that have been constructed as part of rehabilitation.
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