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Gaurav Raghuvanshi

The reconstruction of the quake-ravaged Bhuj town is nearing completion. With broad roads and neat housing rows, the town is determined to make a fresh start.

Some of the newly built houses in Bhuj

A casual visitor to Bhuj will be rather intrigued. Broad roads, neat rows of spanking new houses, a clean marketplace milling with shoppers — scarcely the picture of a town flattened by a massive earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale less than four years ago.

"After we were hit by the killer quake on January 26, 2001, there were two choices for us. The simpler option was to salvage whatever the residents could and continue with the same old infrastructure. But we decided to adopt the more difficult route of rebuilding Bhuj with proper town planning. And, the results are for all to see," says the Bhuj Area Development Authority (BADA) Chief Executive Officer, Kaushik Thanki.

The decision was taken in 2002 and BADA was entrusted with the job of rebuilding the devastated city. This meant giving up the idea of in situ relocation. Three relocation sites — Rawalwadi, RTO (the Road Transport Office existed there) and Mundhra Road — were identified.

Residents were offered bigger plots compared to what they owned previously. "But several residents of Gamthal (the walled city) preferred to stay on. Some had to contend with smaller plots where town planning required a wider road or open space," says Thanki.

The quake-ravaged Ayurvedic Hospital.

The result: Bhuj now has three ring roads, including the innermost road that circles Gamthal. No road is less than 3.5 metres wide; prior to the quake, most roads had a width less than 2 metres. Nearly 1,000 severely damaged houses were pulled down, making way for new construction. As many as 6,000 houses had been classified as G-5 or completely destroyed, and another 400 were classified as G-4 or severely damaged.

The casualties were the highest in the congested Gamthal area because it had several old, unauthorised structures. Nearly 4,000 new plots have been allotted and 2,200 housing units are ready for occupation. Non-government organisations such as Abhiyaan, Rotary Club and Kutch Yuvak Sangh helped in the construction of houses. Multilateral agencies also pitched in, with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) contributing Rs 220 crore for infrastructure development and the World Bank providing housing aid of Rs 1.75 lakh per affected family.

BADA has been working at a frenetic pace and Thanki works out of a makeshift structure. The BADA team gets mildly irritated when things do not move.

The driver loves to show off the outer ring road and takes you to a spot where the smooth four-lane carriageway suddenly vanishes into a dirt track. "The Railways are yet to give permission to widen the road and put up a bigger level-crossing. The entire ring road is ready, but for this 50-metre patch," he says, as he negotiates the bumpy stretch across the track.

Having completed the three ring roads, the marketplace and other important facilities, the authority has turned its attention to recreational parks and the restoration of the historic chatedis or tombs of Bhuj's former rulers. These had formed the backdrop for many a Bollywood film till they were razed by the quake. The locals take great pride in talking about how Bollywood heartthrob Aishwarya Rai had been filmed at the site.

The town's reconstruction is likely to be completed next year. But the town has decided to leave one structure in its quake-ravaged state — the Ayurvedic Hospital in the heart of Gamthal, where former US President Bill Clinton had made a speech during his visit. "We want to let the building stand as a memorial to the over 2,800 people who died in the town and for future generations to see the damage caused by the quake," says Thanki.

"The reconstruction of Bhuj reinforces the great Kutchi spirit. By God's grace, it is a prosperous area, so money was never such an issue. The area has produced several millionaires who are no longer living here. But they make it a point to visit at least once a year," says Nalin Bhai, an architect who has advised BADA in its reconstruction effort as a citizen representative.

Apart from the Ayurvedic Hospital, there are no other signs of debris or ravaged structures in the town. The scars of the quake, however, remain indelible in the residents' minds. Pawan Kumar, a taxi-driver who migrated from Haryana nearly a decade ago, narrates an incident that perhaps sums up the story of the quake. His neighbour, Dinesh Bhai, had struck it rich in his handicrafts business. He had everything going for him till the quake wiped off his entire family. After that, he simply refused to rebuild his house and has become deranged.

The quake that took 15,000 lives tore many a family apart. But, for all "outward" appearances, the picturesque Bhuj and its surrounding towns appear to have mended themselves well.

Pictures by the author

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