AHMEDABAD: They have boxed the problem into four slots. Rescue, relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction. The 4R formula looks neat on paper. But on the ground buried under the rubble, the challenge seems awesome. `` The scale is mind-boggling,'''' says K V Bhanujan, pulled out of retirement to head a state government task-force for rebuilding Gujarat''s devastated swathe.
Soon after the big earthquake, the state government presented a damage estimate of Rs 10,000 crore to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Now they are asking for Rs 22,000 crore, most of it for reconstruction. And like the tectonic plates under Kutch that are yet to settle down - that explains the continuing aftershocks - the property damage figure, it seems, is yet to stabilise. Much of the cash is needed for rebuilding houses, mostly in Kutch. According to one set of government figures, nearly 75,000 houses have been "completely" damaged, over 1.4 lakh "partially" damaged. Some places are so badly hit that the government is considering shifting people into settlements built from scratch. ``The people of Bhachau think that Bhachau cannot be salvaged,'''' says Bhanujan. Still occupied with the job of giving short and medium term relief, the state government is yet to come out with a reconstruction "policy". But it has promised a ``comprehensive package'''' for destroyed buildings by February 10. Bhanujan, chairman of the rehabilitation and reconstruction task force, hints that the government would rather come out with something ``effective'''' than something quick. ``Rehabilitation is not like rescue, where speed is important,'''' he argues. And as the government deliberates, there are people who are keeping their fingers crossed. Yogendra Alagh, former minister at the Centre and now with Ahmedabad''s Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, stresses the need for transparency when the government begins reconstruction. He says the government should create an institutional system which involves planners, architects, non governmental organisations and local communities. Second, even the NGO''s with which the govern-ment collaborates should be exposed to strict auditing. ``If they don''t do this, this money (released for reconstruction) will go waste.'''' Alagh, however, feels that if the "counterbalances" are brought into play, Gujarat could do a reasonable job of rebuilding itself. There are possibilities of funds being pilfered, but the state is better placed than, say Delhi, which has ``a bunch of rascals and crooks'''' as real estate developers. And Ahmedabad, he says, is also home to ``some of the best architects in the world.'''' Achyut Yagnik of the Centre of Social Knowledge and Action points out that the Panchayati Raj in Gujarat is on firmer ground than in many other states. Like Alagh, he recommends involving local communities. His prescription: use local material and local skills wherever possible and be sensitive to local traditions. When disbursing funds, give preference to local community-based NGOs, rather than volunteer agencies from outside who will work in a few villages, for a few months. And then pack up. The gov-ernment and the NGO''s will do better if they prepare the local people instead for greater involvement in the rebuilding challenge. Yagnik and Alagh agree that the government has to take the lead. ``No NGO can take care of even a single block (of villages),'''' Yagnik says. And while speaking of lack of co-ordination in the government machinery, he admits that the NGOs too could co-ordinate better. The state government itself is keen on collaborations, particularly with the corporate world. The big industrial houses like Reliance have already got into the act. P K Lahiri, principal secretary to the chief minister, told The Times of India Online that the state had so far got 120 offers from the private sector, mostly for "adopting" crumbled villages in Kutch. Confederation of Indian Industry is naturally being wooed. On Sunday, the Chief Minister loaned an aircraft for a CII delegation to fly out to Bhuj. The confederation has started ``assessing'''' the scale of the work ahead, which its president Arun Bharat Ram described as ``monumental, Hercu-lean.'''' The CII won''t put a figure on the help the government can expect from it. As an organisation, it says, it can rope in member-companies which may not be in a position to take on rehabilitation and recon-struction work on their own. But whatever job the CII takes up, it will do well, promises Bharat Ram. ``So that the people know that here was an organisation which changed the face of this place.'''' The Gujarat industry itself has taken heavy losses. But they are mostly production losses. The fac-tories went dead because the quake hit the lives of people who work in them. The infrastructure by and large is intact. Industries Commissioner K N Shelat estimates asset losses at a modest Rs 22 crore. But Ratan Prakash Gupta, president of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says the production losses amounted initially to Rs 750 crore a day. Gujarat has been promised big money. The Prime Minister announced a grant of Rs 500 crore; the human resource development ministry Rs 150 crore to rebuild schools. Thirty four countries have pledged money adding upto to over Rs 400 crore, says S K Shelat, economic adviser to the Chief Min-ister. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank will send a stocktaking team on February 12. Already, they have promised a total of Rs 750 crore in loans and grants, mostly diverted from other schemes in India. But to rise from the rubble in Kutch, Gujarat may need more.
