DISASTER MANAGEMENT amp MITIGATION

A REPORT ON

GUJRAT INDIABHUJ EARTHQUAKE JANUARY 26 2001

S M I T A R P A T L E

2ND SEM M ARCH

IDEAS NAGPUR

2016

GUJRAT BHUJ EARTHQUAKE 26TH JANUARY 2001

Summary

The 2001 Bhuj earthquake has been a major turning point in India towards agenda of seismic risk reduction The earthquake caused attitudinal changes at all levels public government leadership and Professional engineers A number of new activities and initiatives have been possible due to enhanced level of awareness and interest caused by this earthquake Several proactive measures are being initiated by the government of India towards risk mitigation and several states are now taking more interest in Disaster management It remains to be seen how much of this will actually translate into safer built environment In general where adequate preparation and capacity existed priory more effective mitigation activities could emerge in the aftermath of the earthquake

1

Table of Contents

Summary 1

1 Introduction 3

What is Earthquake 4

2 Causes of disaster 4

Tectonic setting ( natural cause) 5

Earthquake Parameters 6

3 Vulnerability of the Region 6

4 History of the Region 7

5 The Disaster amp Immediate Response 7

a Evacuation amp Immediate response 7 b Initiatives by Government of India 8 c Role of the Armed forces 8

6 a Relief Operations 9 b Rehabilitations Plans 10 c Management of Earthquake 12

7 Photos of Earthquake 13

8 Result of Risk management 20

9 Critical Analysis 21

Reference

2

1 Introduction A Mw 77 earthquake struck the Kachchh region of Gujarat state in western India at 846 am on January 26 2001 This was the most damaging earthquake in India in the Last fifty Years Over 20000 persons are reported deaths and over 167000 injured The estimated loss due to this quake is placed at around US$5 billion The earthquake was felt in most of the parts of the country strongly by the people in multistory buildings in Mumbai 570 km and as far away as Kolkata 1900 km to the east The entire Kachchh region of Gujarat was extensively damaged and several towns and large villages Like Bhuj Anjaar Vondh and Bhachau sustained widespread destruction Numerous recently built multi-story reinforced concrete frame buildings collapsed Gandhidham and Bhuj in the kachchh region and in the more distant towns of Morbi~125km Rajkot~150km and Ahemedabad~225km At least one multistory Building at Surat~340km collapsed with accompanying casualties

3

What is EARTHQUAKE

Earthquake refers to the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves It may also refer to sudden and violent shaking of the ground sometimes causing great destruction

2 CAUSES OF DISASTER

4

Tectonic setting (Natural causes)

The tectonic setting of the Kachchh is not well understood It has been characterized as a stable continental region (SCR) but its proximity to Himalayan front and the other active geologic structures suggests that it may be transitional between a SCR and the plate boundary The resolution of this issue would be important for full understanding of the geologic seismologic and ground motion implications of the earthquake As shown on the regional map in Figure 1 the Indian subcontinent is moving northward at a rate of approximately 53 to 63 mmyr colliding with the Asian plate which is also moving northward but at about half the rate of the Indian plate The difference between the relative plate velocities produces an intercontinental collision forming the Himalayan Mountains and driving the Eastward and westward movement of large crustal blocks away from the Himalayan orogen The rate of contraction across the Himalayan Frontal Fault System (HFFS) and along the western boundary of the plate near the IndiaPakistan border is approximately 20 to 25 mmyr The rate of contraction across peninsular India south of the plate margin is about 3 +mmyr The January 26th earthquake occurred less than 400 km from the junction of the Owens fracture zone Makran subduction zone the western most HFFS and the Chaman fault which form the plate boundary Indian addition the Kachchh region is bounded by the Quartery active Khambat graben to the east Within the Kachchh region major structural features include east-trending folds and faults that deform Mesozoic Tertiary and possibly Quaternary units The principal faults are the east-trending Katrol Hills Kachchh Mainland Island Belt and Allah Bund Faults the latter being the source of the M 78 1819 Kachchh Earthquake The January 26th earthquake appears to have occurred at depth beneath the eastern Kachchh Mainland Fault A series of anticlines occurs along the Mainland fault for over 220 km This fold belt may have uplifted Quaternary fluvial terraces on its north flank and terraces on its north flank and formed anticline structures and domes In quaternary () sediments that underlie the salt flats in the eastern Little Rann near 23 17rsquoN 71 14rsquoE The presence of folds along the Kachchh Mainland and Katrol Hill faults involving possible Quaternary deposits suggests that there may be an active fold and thrust belt in the southern Kachchh region However the lack of prominent tectonic geomorphology suggests that the rate of crustal shortening is very low on the order of a few mmyr or less In addition the depth of the earthquake rupture gt17 km suggests that the causative fault may lie beneath and be unrelated to the overlying fold and thrust belt The location of the earthquake within 400 km of the active plate margin near the prominent bend in the plate boundary (245 N) and in a region surrounded by Quaternary active structures and large magnitude historical earthquakes Indicates that western Gujarat may be a transitional zone between the stable continental interior and the plate Margin Analysis of historical seismicity in the region shows a recurrence of approximately 200 years for large Magnitude events such as the 1819 Kachchh and 2001 Bhuj earthquakes Further the presence of folds and faults Involving Tertiary and younger sediments stands in contrast to the marked stability of peninsular India east of the Khambat graben and indicates long-term tectonic activity

5

The relatively high rates of historical seismicity in the Kachchh region compared to peninsular zonation map of India (Figure 2)India is reflected In the higher seismic hazard assigned to the area on the seismic

Earthquake Parameters

The epicentral coordinates of the main shocks obtained from teleseismic data are reported by the USGS to have been 2336 N and 7034 E The hypo central depth was between 17 and 22 kms on a fault plane that strikes aboutN60 E and dips 60 to 70 south with a slip direction of 62 The seismic moment of the event is estimated at 62x10 dyne-cm Initial modeling of slip distributions suggests a maximum displacement of 8 to 9 mat depth and uplift of about 2 m 15 km West of the epicenter The event had reverse motion with a slight right-lateral component of slip Strong ground shaking lasted about 85 seconds and lowerLevel shaking lasted several minutes Many survivors of the earthquake reported feeling two distinct pulses of shaking These may Relate to the separate arrivals of the P-and S-wavesThe closest strong-motion recordings are from Ahmadabad where peak ground acceleration was 011g This is anomalously high given the 225 km distance from the epicenter Ahmadabad is located in the Khambat graben which contains several kilometers of Tertiary and Quaternary sediments and therefore the level of shaking may be related to basin amplification Figure 3 presents a preliminary MSK intensity map for the earthquake A maximum intensity of MSK X occurred over an east-northeast elongated zone of approximately 2100 sq km Most of Gujarat State lies within intensity VII or higher reflecting the widespread damage and low Attenuation of strong ground motion

3 VALNERABILITY OF THE REGION

Bhuj A Typical Large Continental Intraplate Earthquake

The Bhuj earthquake was initially stimulated because the region shares characteristics with the New Madrid seismic zones This intraplate North American active seismic zone also lies within Precambrian cratonic basement topped by relatively thin Paleozoic and younger sediments including thick ( 1 km) unconsolidated Cenozoic and Holocene sediments at the surface Both regions have experienced recurrent and failed rifting but are currently being compressed The calculated seismic hazard in both regions is dominated by the recurrence of large earthquakes with the previous occurrences in the nineteenth century There are differences too between the Bhuj and New Madrid areas and future work will need to explore the extent to which the Bhuj earthquake may be analogous to the New Madrid region seismicity (Ellis et al 2001) The aftershock studies are consistent with an interpretation that the Bhuj earthquake was a blind reverse rupture to considerable depth of a fault internal to an old failed continental rift zone The largest such earthquake recorded by modern seismic instrumentation Bhuj was fairly high in stress drop and powerful It ruptured a previously unmapped fault which was not evident at the surface From the perspective of spatial aftershock distributions several tantalizing features are apparent beside the main rupture plane itself which future investigations may clarify These include hints at small active structures perhaps aftershocks of aftershocks or maybe intersecting structures slipping sympathetically during the main shock

6

4 HISTORY OF DISASTERS IN THE REGION

EARTHQUAKE TAKEN PLACE IN THE REGION

5 THE DISASTERS amp IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

a Evacuation amp immediate response

b Initiatives by Government of India hellipRescue Efforts

The Kachchh region of Gujarat is known for high seismic hazard (see Figure2) yet there was no disaster management plan in place to handle the earthquake emergency and the government of Gujarat was unprepared for a disaster management is the responsibility of state governments with the federal government(GOL) assisting with logistical and financial support After the earthquake GoG and the GoL coordinated well at least partly because the same political partly is in power at the state and federal level

7

Government response was hampered because the earthquake occurred on the Republic Day Holiday and much of the government machinery was involved In the ceremonial activity The time of the quake (846 am) coincided with flag-hoisting ceremonies in many places In some locales this actually saved Numerous lives sinces many officials school children and families had gathered on open ground for the ceremonies however in Anjar about 300 children marching in narrow streets for the Republic Day parade could not escape when buildings collapsed from both sides trapping them An emergency control room in the state capital of Gandhinagar became operational by 930 am with all the facilities of a well-equipped EOCgt However Repeated breakdown in communications with the rest of the state and New Delhi seriously married its effectiveness The telecom officials wear killed by Felling debris The fibre-optic cable that provided connectivity to the Kachchh region was broken resulting in isolation of the district from the rest of Gujarat Even the cellular phone coverage was interrupted Communications with Kachchh were partially restorated two days later but remained the weakest link in Response operationsThe control rooms in places other than Gandhinagar were makeshift in nature lacking in both essential facilities and operational focus While the information From Kachchh trickled in slowly news of collapses of multi-story buildings and consequent deaths poured in from Ahmedabad The GoG focused on the situation In the city but rescue operations were hampered by the lack of expertise and equipment in dealing with the collapses of multistory RC buildings this being the first earthquake in India to have caused such collapses The scale of disaster in Gujarat was so extensive that search and rescue operations were overwhelmed The City of Ahmedabad ran short of cranes and Earthmovers to rescue people from the collapsed buildings In the Kachchh region the towns of Bhuj Bhachau Anjar and Rapar the city of Gandhidham and More than two hundred villages sustained severe to complete devastation There were also deaths and extensive damages in the neighboring towns of Surendranagar Patan Jamnagar Bhavnagar Surat Anand Rajkot and Banskantha It was impossible for the GoG to send rescue teams with cranes and earth moving equipment to every site of devastation but neighboring states and private construction companies and industrial houses in the region contributed to the rescue efforts In many cases large bulldozers could not downtown areas due to narrow streets blocked by rubble As is the case in all such disasters rescue in the initial hours was carried out by local survivors of the disaster Later the Indian Army performed most of the rescues and flew in heavy equipment The Army also set up relief camps distributed food and provided medical assistance including surgical units

c Role of Armed Forces

The Military Hospitals in the Kachchh region Ahmedabad and Pune treated the injured The army also provided much needed security for property On the Whole the Indian Army received tremendous acclamation for their efforts

8

6 a Relief Operations Relief assistance began arriving in 72 hours from both within and outside the country Numerous non-government organizations (NGOs) industrial houses and religious organizations provided relief assistance in the form of cooked food water blankets tents and medicine The governments of several other states in India contributed significant relief materials The Gol welcomed all foreign agencies that wished to help in the rescue and relief As a result a large number of countries sent teams to participate in rescue and relief The Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase at Bhuj was critical for receiving emergency supplies and personnel Even though the IAF sustained significant losses at Bhuj and ten personnel were killed the runway was made operational by the afternoon of the first day Bhuj became one of the busiest airports in India in the first five days following the earthquake the otherwise sleepy Bhuj airport handled 800 landings and departures which is more than the traffic at the Delhi and Mumbai airports combined After the first few days of apparently disorganized and weak response the GoG improved coordination of the rescue and relief effort A senior officer was appointed as the Relief Coordination at Bhuj and a new District Collector took charge By this time road rail and telecom links had been restored thanks to the extraordinary deduction of officials of these departments A coordination unit was set up at Bombay to facilitate the handling of international relief While there was a glut of relief material in the villages on the main road adequate relief did not reach many of the villages in the interior areas Some of the problems were 1) Poor coordination with the NGOs which distributed relief material as they felt appropriate which did not necessarily mean optimal distribution of relief material for the entire affected population 2) Distribution of relief material through the public distribution system which required people to produce the ration cards that they used during normal times and 3) The relief materials were sometimes inappropriate for needs of the people (eg in one instance tinned sardines were supplied to the people of Kachchh who are predominantly vegetarian) As the days passed temporary shelters for the homeless emerged as the most pressing need The supply of tents was far short of the demand

b Rehabilitation Plans The GoG planned for the long-term rehabilitation of the people rendered homeless and has announced liberal financial assistance for those whose houses were partially or fully damaged The rehabilitation plans provide for relocation of villages sustaining more than 70 damage to new locations when the local village government so recommends The entire rehabilitation scheme envisages a very strong participation of the NGO sector Reconstruction of the region is a daunting task by any standard but despite the devastation both the government and people of Gujarat show remarkable confidence that Kachchh will rise again

9

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

GUJRAT BHUJ EARTHQUAKE 26TH JANUARY 2001

Summary

The 2001 Bhuj earthquake has been a major turning point in India towards agenda of seismic risk reduction The earthquake caused attitudinal changes at all levels public government leadership and Professional engineers A number of new activities and initiatives have been possible due to enhanced level of awareness and interest caused by this earthquake Several proactive measures are being initiated by the government of India towards risk mitigation and several states are now taking more interest in Disaster management It remains to be seen how much of this will actually translate into safer built environment In general where adequate preparation and capacity existed priory more effective mitigation activities could emerge in the aftermath of the earthquake

1

Table of Contents

Summary 1

1 Introduction 3

What is Earthquake 4

2 Causes of disaster 4

Tectonic setting ( natural cause) 5

Earthquake Parameters 6

3 Vulnerability of the Region 6

4 History of the Region 7

5 The Disaster amp Immediate Response 7

a Evacuation amp Immediate response 7 b Initiatives by Government of India 8 c Role of the Armed forces 8

6 a Relief Operations 9 b Rehabilitations Plans 10 c Management of Earthquake 12

7 Photos of Earthquake 13

8 Result of Risk management 20

9 Critical Analysis 21

Reference

2

1 Introduction A Mw 77 earthquake struck the Kachchh region of Gujarat state in western India at 846 am on January 26 2001 This was the most damaging earthquake in India in the Last fifty Years Over 20000 persons are reported deaths and over 167000 injured The estimated loss due to this quake is placed at around US$5 billion The earthquake was felt in most of the parts of the country strongly by the people in multistory buildings in Mumbai 570 km and as far away as Kolkata 1900 km to the east The entire Kachchh region of Gujarat was extensively damaged and several towns and large villages Like Bhuj Anjaar Vondh and Bhachau sustained widespread destruction Numerous recently built multi-story reinforced concrete frame buildings collapsed Gandhidham and Bhuj in the kachchh region and in the more distant towns of Morbi~125km Rajkot~150km and Ahemedabad~225km At least one multistory Building at Surat~340km collapsed with accompanying casualties

3

What is EARTHQUAKE

Earthquake refers to the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves It may also refer to sudden and violent shaking of the ground sometimes causing great destruction

2 CAUSES OF DISASTER

4

Tectonic setting (Natural causes)

The tectonic setting of the Kachchh is not well understood It has been characterized as a stable continental region (SCR) but its proximity to Himalayan front and the other active geologic structures suggests that it may be transitional between a SCR and the plate boundary The resolution of this issue would be important for full understanding of the geologic seismologic and ground motion implications of the earthquake As shown on the regional map in Figure 1 the Indian subcontinent is moving northward at a rate of approximately 53 to 63 mmyr colliding with the Asian plate which is also moving northward but at about half the rate of the Indian plate The difference between the relative plate velocities produces an intercontinental collision forming the Himalayan Mountains and driving the Eastward and westward movement of large crustal blocks away from the Himalayan orogen The rate of contraction across the Himalayan Frontal Fault System (HFFS) and along the western boundary of the plate near the IndiaPakistan border is approximately 20 to 25 mmyr The rate of contraction across peninsular India south of the plate margin is about 3 +mmyr The January 26th earthquake occurred less than 400 km from the junction of the Owens fracture zone Makran subduction zone the western most HFFS and the Chaman fault which form the plate boundary Indian addition the Kachchh region is bounded by the Quartery active Khambat graben to the east Within the Kachchh region major structural features include east-trending folds and faults that deform Mesozoic Tertiary and possibly Quaternary units The principal faults are the east-trending Katrol Hills Kachchh Mainland Island Belt and Allah Bund Faults the latter being the source of the M 78 1819 Kachchh Earthquake The January 26th earthquake appears to have occurred at depth beneath the eastern Kachchh Mainland Fault A series of anticlines occurs along the Mainland fault for over 220 km This fold belt may have uplifted Quaternary fluvial terraces on its north flank and terraces on its north flank and formed anticline structures and domes In quaternary () sediments that underlie the salt flats in the eastern Little Rann near 23 17rsquoN 71 14rsquoE The presence of folds along the Kachchh Mainland and Katrol Hill faults involving possible Quaternary deposits suggests that there may be an active fold and thrust belt in the southern Kachchh region However the lack of prominent tectonic geomorphology suggests that the rate of crustal shortening is very low on the order of a few mmyr or less In addition the depth of the earthquake rupture gt17 km suggests that the causative fault may lie beneath and be unrelated to the overlying fold and thrust belt The location of the earthquake within 400 km of the active plate margin near the prominent bend in the plate boundary (245 N) and in a region surrounded by Quaternary active structures and large magnitude historical earthquakes Indicates that western Gujarat may be a transitional zone between the stable continental interior and the plate Margin Analysis of historical seismicity in the region shows a recurrence of approximately 200 years for large Magnitude events such as the 1819 Kachchh and 2001 Bhuj earthquakes Further the presence of folds and faults Involving Tertiary and younger sediments stands in contrast to the marked stability of peninsular India east of the Khambat graben and indicates long-term tectonic activity

5

The relatively high rates of historical seismicity in the Kachchh region compared to peninsular zonation map of India (Figure 2)India is reflected In the higher seismic hazard assigned to the area on the seismic

Earthquake Parameters

The epicentral coordinates of the main shocks obtained from teleseismic data are reported by the USGS to have been 2336 N and 7034 E The hypo central depth was between 17 and 22 kms on a fault plane that strikes aboutN60 E and dips 60 to 70 south with a slip direction of 62 The seismic moment of the event is estimated at 62x10 dyne-cm Initial modeling of slip distributions suggests a maximum displacement of 8 to 9 mat depth and uplift of about 2 m 15 km West of the epicenter The event had reverse motion with a slight right-lateral component of slip Strong ground shaking lasted about 85 seconds and lowerLevel shaking lasted several minutes Many survivors of the earthquake reported feeling two distinct pulses of shaking These may Relate to the separate arrivals of the P-and S-wavesThe closest strong-motion recordings are from Ahmadabad where peak ground acceleration was 011g This is anomalously high given the 225 km distance from the epicenter Ahmadabad is located in the Khambat graben which contains several kilometers of Tertiary and Quaternary sediments and therefore the level of shaking may be related to basin amplification Figure 3 presents a preliminary MSK intensity map for the earthquake A maximum intensity of MSK X occurred over an east-northeast elongated zone of approximately 2100 sq km Most of Gujarat State lies within intensity VII or higher reflecting the widespread damage and low Attenuation of strong ground motion

3 VALNERABILITY OF THE REGION

Bhuj A Typical Large Continental Intraplate Earthquake

The Bhuj earthquake was initially stimulated because the region shares characteristics with the New Madrid seismic zones This intraplate North American active seismic zone also lies within Precambrian cratonic basement topped by relatively thin Paleozoic and younger sediments including thick ( 1 km) unconsolidated Cenozoic and Holocene sediments at the surface Both regions have experienced recurrent and failed rifting but are currently being compressed The calculated seismic hazard in both regions is dominated by the recurrence of large earthquakes with the previous occurrences in the nineteenth century There are differences too between the Bhuj and New Madrid areas and future work will need to explore the extent to which the Bhuj earthquake may be analogous to the New Madrid region seismicity (Ellis et al 2001) The aftershock studies are consistent with an interpretation that the Bhuj earthquake was a blind reverse rupture to considerable depth of a fault internal to an old failed continental rift zone The largest such earthquake recorded by modern seismic instrumentation Bhuj was fairly high in stress drop and powerful It ruptured a previously unmapped fault which was not evident at the surface From the perspective of spatial aftershock distributions several tantalizing features are apparent beside the main rupture plane itself which future investigations may clarify These include hints at small active structures perhaps aftershocks of aftershocks or maybe intersecting structures slipping sympathetically during the main shock

6

4 HISTORY OF DISASTERS IN THE REGION

EARTHQUAKE TAKEN PLACE IN THE REGION

5 THE DISASTERS amp IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

a Evacuation amp immediate response

b Initiatives by Government of India hellipRescue Efforts

The Kachchh region of Gujarat is known for high seismic hazard (see Figure2) yet there was no disaster management plan in place to handle the earthquake emergency and the government of Gujarat was unprepared for a disaster management is the responsibility of state governments with the federal government(GOL) assisting with logistical and financial support After the earthquake GoG and the GoL coordinated well at least partly because the same political partly is in power at the state and federal level

7

Government response was hampered because the earthquake occurred on the Republic Day Holiday and much of the government machinery was involved In the ceremonial activity The time of the quake (846 am) coincided with flag-hoisting ceremonies in many places In some locales this actually saved Numerous lives sinces many officials school children and families had gathered on open ground for the ceremonies however in Anjar about 300 children marching in narrow streets for the Republic Day parade could not escape when buildings collapsed from both sides trapping them An emergency control room in the state capital of Gandhinagar became operational by 930 am with all the facilities of a well-equipped EOCgt However Repeated breakdown in communications with the rest of the state and New Delhi seriously married its effectiveness The telecom officials wear killed by Felling debris The fibre-optic cable that provided connectivity to the Kachchh region was broken resulting in isolation of the district from the rest of Gujarat Even the cellular phone coverage was interrupted Communications with Kachchh were partially restorated two days later but remained the weakest link in Response operationsThe control rooms in places other than Gandhinagar were makeshift in nature lacking in both essential facilities and operational focus While the information From Kachchh trickled in slowly news of collapses of multi-story buildings and consequent deaths poured in from Ahmedabad The GoG focused on the situation In the city but rescue operations were hampered by the lack of expertise and equipment in dealing with the collapses of multistory RC buildings this being the first earthquake in India to have caused such collapses The scale of disaster in Gujarat was so extensive that search and rescue operations were overwhelmed The City of Ahmedabad ran short of cranes and Earthmovers to rescue people from the collapsed buildings In the Kachchh region the towns of Bhuj Bhachau Anjar and Rapar the city of Gandhidham and More than two hundred villages sustained severe to complete devastation There were also deaths and extensive damages in the neighboring towns of Surendranagar Patan Jamnagar Bhavnagar Surat Anand Rajkot and Banskantha It was impossible for the GoG to send rescue teams with cranes and earth moving equipment to every site of devastation but neighboring states and private construction companies and industrial houses in the region contributed to the rescue efforts In many cases large bulldozers could not downtown areas due to narrow streets blocked by rubble As is the case in all such disasters rescue in the initial hours was carried out by local survivors of the disaster Later the Indian Army performed most of the rescues and flew in heavy equipment The Army also set up relief camps distributed food and provided medical assistance including surgical units

c Role of Armed Forces

The Military Hospitals in the Kachchh region Ahmedabad and Pune treated the injured The army also provided much needed security for property On the Whole the Indian Army received tremendous acclamation for their efforts

8

6 a Relief Operations Relief assistance began arriving in 72 hours from both within and outside the country Numerous non-government organizations (NGOs) industrial houses and religious organizations provided relief assistance in the form of cooked food water blankets tents and medicine The governments of several other states in India contributed significant relief materials The Gol welcomed all foreign agencies that wished to help in the rescue and relief As a result a large number of countries sent teams to participate in rescue and relief The Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase at Bhuj was critical for receiving emergency supplies and personnel Even though the IAF sustained significant losses at Bhuj and ten personnel were killed the runway was made operational by the afternoon of the first day Bhuj became one of the busiest airports in India in the first five days following the earthquake the otherwise sleepy Bhuj airport handled 800 landings and departures which is more than the traffic at the Delhi and Mumbai airports combined After the first few days of apparently disorganized and weak response the GoG improved coordination of the rescue and relief effort A senior officer was appointed as the Relief Coordination at Bhuj and a new District Collector took charge By this time road rail and telecom links had been restored thanks to the extraordinary deduction of officials of these departments A coordination unit was set up at Bombay to facilitate the handling of international relief While there was a glut of relief material in the villages on the main road adequate relief did not reach many of the villages in the interior areas Some of the problems were 1) Poor coordination with the NGOs which distributed relief material as they felt appropriate which did not necessarily mean optimal distribution of relief material for the entire affected population 2) Distribution of relief material through the public distribution system which required people to produce the ration cards that they used during normal times and 3) The relief materials were sometimes inappropriate for needs of the people (eg in one instance tinned sardines were supplied to the people of Kachchh who are predominantly vegetarian) As the days passed temporary shelters for the homeless emerged as the most pressing need The supply of tents was far short of the demand

b Rehabilitation Plans The GoG planned for the long-term rehabilitation of the people rendered homeless and has announced liberal financial assistance for those whose houses were partially or fully damaged The rehabilitation plans provide for relocation of villages sustaining more than 70 damage to new locations when the local village government so recommends The entire rehabilitation scheme envisages a very strong participation of the NGO sector Reconstruction of the region is a daunting task by any standard but despite the devastation both the government and people of Gujarat show remarkable confidence that Kachchh will rise again

9

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

Table of Contents

Summary 1

1 Introduction 3

What is Earthquake 4

2 Causes of disaster 4

Tectonic setting ( natural cause) 5

Earthquake Parameters 6

3 Vulnerability of the Region 6

4 History of the Region 7

5 The Disaster amp Immediate Response 7

a Evacuation amp Immediate response 7 b Initiatives by Government of India 8 c Role of the Armed forces 8

6 a Relief Operations 9 b Rehabilitations Plans 10 c Management of Earthquake 12

7 Photos of Earthquake 13

8 Result of Risk management 20

9 Critical Analysis 21

Reference

2

1 Introduction A Mw 77 earthquake struck the Kachchh region of Gujarat state in western India at 846 am on January 26 2001 This was the most damaging earthquake in India in the Last fifty Years Over 20000 persons are reported deaths and over 167000 injured The estimated loss due to this quake is placed at around US$5 billion The earthquake was felt in most of the parts of the country strongly by the people in multistory buildings in Mumbai 570 km and as far away as Kolkata 1900 km to the east The entire Kachchh region of Gujarat was extensively damaged and several towns and large villages Like Bhuj Anjaar Vondh and Bhachau sustained widespread destruction Numerous recently built multi-story reinforced concrete frame buildings collapsed Gandhidham and Bhuj in the kachchh region and in the more distant towns of Morbi~125km Rajkot~150km and Ahemedabad~225km At least one multistory Building at Surat~340km collapsed with accompanying casualties

3

What is EARTHQUAKE

Earthquake refers to the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves It may also refer to sudden and violent shaking of the ground sometimes causing great destruction

2 CAUSES OF DISASTER

4

Tectonic setting (Natural causes)

The tectonic setting of the Kachchh is not well understood It has been characterized as a stable continental region (SCR) but its proximity to Himalayan front and the other active geologic structures suggests that it may be transitional between a SCR and the plate boundary The resolution of this issue would be important for full understanding of the geologic seismologic and ground motion implications of the earthquake As shown on the regional map in Figure 1 the Indian subcontinent is moving northward at a rate of approximately 53 to 63 mmyr colliding with the Asian plate which is also moving northward but at about half the rate of the Indian plate The difference between the relative plate velocities produces an intercontinental collision forming the Himalayan Mountains and driving the Eastward and westward movement of large crustal blocks away from the Himalayan orogen The rate of contraction across the Himalayan Frontal Fault System (HFFS) and along the western boundary of the plate near the IndiaPakistan border is approximately 20 to 25 mmyr The rate of contraction across peninsular India south of the plate margin is about 3 +mmyr The January 26th earthquake occurred less than 400 km from the junction of the Owens fracture zone Makran subduction zone the western most HFFS and the Chaman fault which form the plate boundary Indian addition the Kachchh region is bounded by the Quartery active Khambat graben to the east Within the Kachchh region major structural features include east-trending folds and faults that deform Mesozoic Tertiary and possibly Quaternary units The principal faults are the east-trending Katrol Hills Kachchh Mainland Island Belt and Allah Bund Faults the latter being the source of the M 78 1819 Kachchh Earthquake The January 26th earthquake appears to have occurred at depth beneath the eastern Kachchh Mainland Fault A series of anticlines occurs along the Mainland fault for over 220 km This fold belt may have uplifted Quaternary fluvial terraces on its north flank and terraces on its north flank and formed anticline structures and domes In quaternary () sediments that underlie the salt flats in the eastern Little Rann near 23 17rsquoN 71 14rsquoE The presence of folds along the Kachchh Mainland and Katrol Hill faults involving possible Quaternary deposits suggests that there may be an active fold and thrust belt in the southern Kachchh region However the lack of prominent tectonic geomorphology suggests that the rate of crustal shortening is very low on the order of a few mmyr or less In addition the depth of the earthquake rupture gt17 km suggests that the causative fault may lie beneath and be unrelated to the overlying fold and thrust belt The location of the earthquake within 400 km of the active plate margin near the prominent bend in the plate boundary (245 N) and in a region surrounded by Quaternary active structures and large magnitude historical earthquakes Indicates that western Gujarat may be a transitional zone between the stable continental interior and the plate Margin Analysis of historical seismicity in the region shows a recurrence of approximately 200 years for large Magnitude events such as the 1819 Kachchh and 2001 Bhuj earthquakes Further the presence of folds and faults Involving Tertiary and younger sediments stands in contrast to the marked stability of peninsular India east of the Khambat graben and indicates long-term tectonic activity

5

The relatively high rates of historical seismicity in the Kachchh region compared to peninsular zonation map of India (Figure 2)India is reflected In the higher seismic hazard assigned to the area on the seismic

Earthquake Parameters

The epicentral coordinates of the main shocks obtained from teleseismic data are reported by the USGS to have been 2336 N and 7034 E The hypo central depth was between 17 and 22 kms on a fault plane that strikes aboutN60 E and dips 60 to 70 south with a slip direction of 62 The seismic moment of the event is estimated at 62x10 dyne-cm Initial modeling of slip distributions suggests a maximum displacement of 8 to 9 mat depth and uplift of about 2 m 15 km West of the epicenter The event had reverse motion with a slight right-lateral component of slip Strong ground shaking lasted about 85 seconds and lowerLevel shaking lasted several minutes Many survivors of the earthquake reported feeling two distinct pulses of shaking These may Relate to the separate arrivals of the P-and S-wavesThe closest strong-motion recordings are from Ahmadabad where peak ground acceleration was 011g This is anomalously high given the 225 km distance from the epicenter Ahmadabad is located in the Khambat graben which contains several kilometers of Tertiary and Quaternary sediments and therefore the level of shaking may be related to basin amplification Figure 3 presents a preliminary MSK intensity map for the earthquake A maximum intensity of MSK X occurred over an east-northeast elongated zone of approximately 2100 sq km Most of Gujarat State lies within intensity VII or higher reflecting the widespread damage and low Attenuation of strong ground motion

3 VALNERABILITY OF THE REGION

Bhuj A Typical Large Continental Intraplate Earthquake

The Bhuj earthquake was initially stimulated because the region shares characteristics with the New Madrid seismic zones This intraplate North American active seismic zone also lies within Precambrian cratonic basement topped by relatively thin Paleozoic and younger sediments including thick ( 1 km) unconsolidated Cenozoic and Holocene sediments at the surface Both regions have experienced recurrent and failed rifting but are currently being compressed The calculated seismic hazard in both regions is dominated by the recurrence of large earthquakes with the previous occurrences in the nineteenth century There are differences too between the Bhuj and New Madrid areas and future work will need to explore the extent to which the Bhuj earthquake may be analogous to the New Madrid region seismicity (Ellis et al 2001) The aftershock studies are consistent with an interpretation that the Bhuj earthquake was a blind reverse rupture to considerable depth of a fault internal to an old failed continental rift zone The largest such earthquake recorded by modern seismic instrumentation Bhuj was fairly high in stress drop and powerful It ruptured a previously unmapped fault which was not evident at the surface From the perspective of spatial aftershock distributions several tantalizing features are apparent beside the main rupture plane itself which future investigations may clarify These include hints at small active structures perhaps aftershocks of aftershocks or maybe intersecting structures slipping sympathetically during the main shock

6

4 HISTORY OF DISASTERS IN THE REGION

EARTHQUAKE TAKEN PLACE IN THE REGION

5 THE DISASTERS amp IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

a Evacuation amp immediate response

b Initiatives by Government of India hellipRescue Efforts

The Kachchh region of Gujarat is known for high seismic hazard (see Figure2) yet there was no disaster management plan in place to handle the earthquake emergency and the government of Gujarat was unprepared for a disaster management is the responsibility of state governments with the federal government(GOL) assisting with logistical and financial support After the earthquake GoG and the GoL coordinated well at least partly because the same political partly is in power at the state and federal level

7

Government response was hampered because the earthquake occurred on the Republic Day Holiday and much of the government machinery was involved In the ceremonial activity The time of the quake (846 am) coincided with flag-hoisting ceremonies in many places In some locales this actually saved Numerous lives sinces many officials school children and families had gathered on open ground for the ceremonies however in Anjar about 300 children marching in narrow streets for the Republic Day parade could not escape when buildings collapsed from both sides trapping them An emergency control room in the state capital of Gandhinagar became operational by 930 am with all the facilities of a well-equipped EOCgt However Repeated breakdown in communications with the rest of the state and New Delhi seriously married its effectiveness The telecom officials wear killed by Felling debris The fibre-optic cable that provided connectivity to the Kachchh region was broken resulting in isolation of the district from the rest of Gujarat Even the cellular phone coverage was interrupted Communications with Kachchh were partially restorated two days later but remained the weakest link in Response operationsThe control rooms in places other than Gandhinagar were makeshift in nature lacking in both essential facilities and operational focus While the information From Kachchh trickled in slowly news of collapses of multi-story buildings and consequent deaths poured in from Ahmedabad The GoG focused on the situation In the city but rescue operations were hampered by the lack of expertise and equipment in dealing with the collapses of multistory RC buildings this being the first earthquake in India to have caused such collapses The scale of disaster in Gujarat was so extensive that search and rescue operations were overwhelmed The City of Ahmedabad ran short of cranes and Earthmovers to rescue people from the collapsed buildings In the Kachchh region the towns of Bhuj Bhachau Anjar and Rapar the city of Gandhidham and More than two hundred villages sustained severe to complete devastation There were also deaths and extensive damages in the neighboring towns of Surendranagar Patan Jamnagar Bhavnagar Surat Anand Rajkot and Banskantha It was impossible for the GoG to send rescue teams with cranes and earth moving equipment to every site of devastation but neighboring states and private construction companies and industrial houses in the region contributed to the rescue efforts In many cases large bulldozers could not downtown areas due to narrow streets blocked by rubble As is the case in all such disasters rescue in the initial hours was carried out by local survivors of the disaster Later the Indian Army performed most of the rescues and flew in heavy equipment The Army also set up relief camps distributed food and provided medical assistance including surgical units

c Role of Armed Forces

The Military Hospitals in the Kachchh region Ahmedabad and Pune treated the injured The army also provided much needed security for property On the Whole the Indian Army received tremendous acclamation for their efforts

8

6 a Relief Operations Relief assistance began arriving in 72 hours from both within and outside the country Numerous non-government organizations (NGOs) industrial houses and religious organizations provided relief assistance in the form of cooked food water blankets tents and medicine The governments of several other states in India contributed significant relief materials The Gol welcomed all foreign agencies that wished to help in the rescue and relief As a result a large number of countries sent teams to participate in rescue and relief The Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase at Bhuj was critical for receiving emergency supplies and personnel Even though the IAF sustained significant losses at Bhuj and ten personnel were killed the runway was made operational by the afternoon of the first day Bhuj became one of the busiest airports in India in the first five days following the earthquake the otherwise sleepy Bhuj airport handled 800 landings and departures which is more than the traffic at the Delhi and Mumbai airports combined After the first few days of apparently disorganized and weak response the GoG improved coordination of the rescue and relief effort A senior officer was appointed as the Relief Coordination at Bhuj and a new District Collector took charge By this time road rail and telecom links had been restored thanks to the extraordinary deduction of officials of these departments A coordination unit was set up at Bombay to facilitate the handling of international relief While there was a glut of relief material in the villages on the main road adequate relief did not reach many of the villages in the interior areas Some of the problems were 1) Poor coordination with the NGOs which distributed relief material as they felt appropriate which did not necessarily mean optimal distribution of relief material for the entire affected population 2) Distribution of relief material through the public distribution system which required people to produce the ration cards that they used during normal times and 3) The relief materials were sometimes inappropriate for needs of the people (eg in one instance tinned sardines were supplied to the people of Kachchh who are predominantly vegetarian) As the days passed temporary shelters for the homeless emerged as the most pressing need The supply of tents was far short of the demand

b Rehabilitation Plans The GoG planned for the long-term rehabilitation of the people rendered homeless and has announced liberal financial assistance for those whose houses were partially or fully damaged The rehabilitation plans provide for relocation of villages sustaining more than 70 damage to new locations when the local village government so recommends The entire rehabilitation scheme envisages a very strong participation of the NGO sector Reconstruction of the region is a daunting task by any standard but despite the devastation both the government and people of Gujarat show remarkable confidence that Kachchh will rise again

9

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

1 Introduction A Mw 77 earthquake struck the Kachchh region of Gujarat state in western India at 846 am on January 26 2001 This was the most damaging earthquake in India in the Last fifty Years Over 20000 persons are reported deaths and over 167000 injured The estimated loss due to this quake is placed at around US$5 billion The earthquake was felt in most of the parts of the country strongly by the people in multistory buildings in Mumbai 570 km and as far away as Kolkata 1900 km to the east The entire Kachchh region of Gujarat was extensively damaged and several towns and large villages Like Bhuj Anjaar Vondh and Bhachau sustained widespread destruction Numerous recently built multi-story reinforced concrete frame buildings collapsed Gandhidham and Bhuj in the kachchh region and in the more distant towns of Morbi~125km Rajkot~150km and Ahemedabad~225km At least one multistory Building at Surat~340km collapsed with accompanying casualties

3

What is EARTHQUAKE

Earthquake refers to the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves It may also refer to sudden and violent shaking of the ground sometimes causing great destruction

2 CAUSES OF DISASTER

4

Tectonic setting (Natural causes)

The tectonic setting of the Kachchh is not well understood It has been characterized as a stable continental region (SCR) but its proximity to Himalayan front and the other active geologic structures suggests that it may be transitional between a SCR and the plate boundary The resolution of this issue would be important for full understanding of the geologic seismologic and ground motion implications of the earthquake As shown on the regional map in Figure 1 the Indian subcontinent is moving northward at a rate of approximately 53 to 63 mmyr colliding with the Asian plate which is also moving northward but at about half the rate of the Indian plate The difference between the relative plate velocities produces an intercontinental collision forming the Himalayan Mountains and driving the Eastward and westward movement of large crustal blocks away from the Himalayan orogen The rate of contraction across the Himalayan Frontal Fault System (HFFS) and along the western boundary of the plate near the IndiaPakistan border is approximately 20 to 25 mmyr The rate of contraction across peninsular India south of the plate margin is about 3 +mmyr The January 26th earthquake occurred less than 400 km from the junction of the Owens fracture zone Makran subduction zone the western most HFFS and the Chaman fault which form the plate boundary Indian addition the Kachchh region is bounded by the Quartery active Khambat graben to the east Within the Kachchh region major structural features include east-trending folds and faults that deform Mesozoic Tertiary and possibly Quaternary units The principal faults are the east-trending Katrol Hills Kachchh Mainland Island Belt and Allah Bund Faults the latter being the source of the M 78 1819 Kachchh Earthquake The January 26th earthquake appears to have occurred at depth beneath the eastern Kachchh Mainland Fault A series of anticlines occurs along the Mainland fault for over 220 km This fold belt may have uplifted Quaternary fluvial terraces on its north flank and terraces on its north flank and formed anticline structures and domes In quaternary () sediments that underlie the salt flats in the eastern Little Rann near 23 17rsquoN 71 14rsquoE The presence of folds along the Kachchh Mainland and Katrol Hill faults involving possible Quaternary deposits suggests that there may be an active fold and thrust belt in the southern Kachchh region However the lack of prominent tectonic geomorphology suggests that the rate of crustal shortening is very low on the order of a few mmyr or less In addition the depth of the earthquake rupture gt17 km suggests that the causative fault may lie beneath and be unrelated to the overlying fold and thrust belt The location of the earthquake within 400 km of the active plate margin near the prominent bend in the plate boundary (245 N) and in a region surrounded by Quaternary active structures and large magnitude historical earthquakes Indicates that western Gujarat may be a transitional zone between the stable continental interior and the plate Margin Analysis of historical seismicity in the region shows a recurrence of approximately 200 years for large Magnitude events such as the 1819 Kachchh and 2001 Bhuj earthquakes Further the presence of folds and faults Involving Tertiary and younger sediments stands in contrast to the marked stability of peninsular India east of the Khambat graben and indicates long-term tectonic activity

5

The relatively high rates of historical seismicity in the Kachchh region compared to peninsular zonation map of India (Figure 2)India is reflected In the higher seismic hazard assigned to the area on the seismic

Earthquake Parameters

The epicentral coordinates of the main shocks obtained from teleseismic data are reported by the USGS to have been 2336 N and 7034 E The hypo central depth was between 17 and 22 kms on a fault plane that strikes aboutN60 E and dips 60 to 70 south with a slip direction of 62 The seismic moment of the event is estimated at 62x10 dyne-cm Initial modeling of slip distributions suggests a maximum displacement of 8 to 9 mat depth and uplift of about 2 m 15 km West of the epicenter The event had reverse motion with a slight right-lateral component of slip Strong ground shaking lasted about 85 seconds and lowerLevel shaking lasted several minutes Many survivors of the earthquake reported feeling two distinct pulses of shaking These may Relate to the separate arrivals of the P-and S-wavesThe closest strong-motion recordings are from Ahmadabad where peak ground acceleration was 011g This is anomalously high given the 225 km distance from the epicenter Ahmadabad is located in the Khambat graben which contains several kilometers of Tertiary and Quaternary sediments and therefore the level of shaking may be related to basin amplification Figure 3 presents a preliminary MSK intensity map for the earthquake A maximum intensity of MSK X occurred over an east-northeast elongated zone of approximately 2100 sq km Most of Gujarat State lies within intensity VII or higher reflecting the widespread damage and low Attenuation of strong ground motion

3 VALNERABILITY OF THE REGION

Bhuj A Typical Large Continental Intraplate Earthquake

The Bhuj earthquake was initially stimulated because the region shares characteristics with the New Madrid seismic zones This intraplate North American active seismic zone also lies within Precambrian cratonic basement topped by relatively thin Paleozoic and younger sediments including thick ( 1 km) unconsolidated Cenozoic and Holocene sediments at the surface Both regions have experienced recurrent and failed rifting but are currently being compressed The calculated seismic hazard in both regions is dominated by the recurrence of large earthquakes with the previous occurrences in the nineteenth century There are differences too between the Bhuj and New Madrid areas and future work will need to explore the extent to which the Bhuj earthquake may be analogous to the New Madrid region seismicity (Ellis et al 2001) The aftershock studies are consistent with an interpretation that the Bhuj earthquake was a blind reverse rupture to considerable depth of a fault internal to an old failed continental rift zone The largest such earthquake recorded by modern seismic instrumentation Bhuj was fairly high in stress drop and powerful It ruptured a previously unmapped fault which was not evident at the surface From the perspective of spatial aftershock distributions several tantalizing features are apparent beside the main rupture plane itself which future investigations may clarify These include hints at small active structures perhaps aftershocks of aftershocks or maybe intersecting structures slipping sympathetically during the main shock

6

4 HISTORY OF DISASTERS IN THE REGION

EARTHQUAKE TAKEN PLACE IN THE REGION

5 THE DISASTERS amp IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

a Evacuation amp immediate response

b Initiatives by Government of India hellipRescue Efforts

The Kachchh region of Gujarat is known for high seismic hazard (see Figure2) yet there was no disaster management plan in place to handle the earthquake emergency and the government of Gujarat was unprepared for a disaster management is the responsibility of state governments with the federal government(GOL) assisting with logistical and financial support After the earthquake GoG and the GoL coordinated well at least partly because the same political partly is in power at the state and federal level

7

Government response was hampered because the earthquake occurred on the Republic Day Holiday and much of the government machinery was involved In the ceremonial activity The time of the quake (846 am) coincided with flag-hoisting ceremonies in many places In some locales this actually saved Numerous lives sinces many officials school children and families had gathered on open ground for the ceremonies however in Anjar about 300 children marching in narrow streets for the Republic Day parade could not escape when buildings collapsed from both sides trapping them An emergency control room in the state capital of Gandhinagar became operational by 930 am with all the facilities of a well-equipped EOCgt However Repeated breakdown in communications with the rest of the state and New Delhi seriously married its effectiveness The telecom officials wear killed by Felling debris The fibre-optic cable that provided connectivity to the Kachchh region was broken resulting in isolation of the district from the rest of Gujarat Even the cellular phone coverage was interrupted Communications with Kachchh were partially restorated two days later but remained the weakest link in Response operationsThe control rooms in places other than Gandhinagar were makeshift in nature lacking in both essential facilities and operational focus While the information From Kachchh trickled in slowly news of collapses of multi-story buildings and consequent deaths poured in from Ahmedabad The GoG focused on the situation In the city but rescue operations were hampered by the lack of expertise and equipment in dealing with the collapses of multistory RC buildings this being the first earthquake in India to have caused such collapses The scale of disaster in Gujarat was so extensive that search and rescue operations were overwhelmed The City of Ahmedabad ran short of cranes and Earthmovers to rescue people from the collapsed buildings In the Kachchh region the towns of Bhuj Bhachau Anjar and Rapar the city of Gandhidham and More than two hundred villages sustained severe to complete devastation There were also deaths and extensive damages in the neighboring towns of Surendranagar Patan Jamnagar Bhavnagar Surat Anand Rajkot and Banskantha It was impossible for the GoG to send rescue teams with cranes and earth moving equipment to every site of devastation but neighboring states and private construction companies and industrial houses in the region contributed to the rescue efforts In many cases large bulldozers could not downtown areas due to narrow streets blocked by rubble As is the case in all such disasters rescue in the initial hours was carried out by local survivors of the disaster Later the Indian Army performed most of the rescues and flew in heavy equipment The Army also set up relief camps distributed food and provided medical assistance including surgical units

c Role of Armed Forces

The Military Hospitals in the Kachchh region Ahmedabad and Pune treated the injured The army also provided much needed security for property On the Whole the Indian Army received tremendous acclamation for their efforts

8

6 a Relief Operations Relief assistance began arriving in 72 hours from both within and outside the country Numerous non-government organizations (NGOs) industrial houses and religious organizations provided relief assistance in the form of cooked food water blankets tents and medicine The governments of several other states in India contributed significant relief materials The Gol welcomed all foreign agencies that wished to help in the rescue and relief As a result a large number of countries sent teams to participate in rescue and relief The Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase at Bhuj was critical for receiving emergency supplies and personnel Even though the IAF sustained significant losses at Bhuj and ten personnel were killed the runway was made operational by the afternoon of the first day Bhuj became one of the busiest airports in India in the first five days following the earthquake the otherwise sleepy Bhuj airport handled 800 landings and departures which is more than the traffic at the Delhi and Mumbai airports combined After the first few days of apparently disorganized and weak response the GoG improved coordination of the rescue and relief effort A senior officer was appointed as the Relief Coordination at Bhuj and a new District Collector took charge By this time road rail and telecom links had been restored thanks to the extraordinary deduction of officials of these departments A coordination unit was set up at Bombay to facilitate the handling of international relief While there was a glut of relief material in the villages on the main road adequate relief did not reach many of the villages in the interior areas Some of the problems were 1) Poor coordination with the NGOs which distributed relief material as they felt appropriate which did not necessarily mean optimal distribution of relief material for the entire affected population 2) Distribution of relief material through the public distribution system which required people to produce the ration cards that they used during normal times and 3) The relief materials were sometimes inappropriate for needs of the people (eg in one instance tinned sardines were supplied to the people of Kachchh who are predominantly vegetarian) As the days passed temporary shelters for the homeless emerged as the most pressing need The supply of tents was far short of the demand

b Rehabilitation Plans The GoG planned for the long-term rehabilitation of the people rendered homeless and has announced liberal financial assistance for those whose houses were partially or fully damaged The rehabilitation plans provide for relocation of villages sustaining more than 70 damage to new locations when the local village government so recommends The entire rehabilitation scheme envisages a very strong participation of the NGO sector Reconstruction of the region is a daunting task by any standard but despite the devastation both the government and people of Gujarat show remarkable confidence that Kachchh will rise again

9

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

What is EARTHQUAKE

Earthquake refers to the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves It may also refer to sudden and violent shaking of the ground sometimes causing great destruction

2 CAUSES OF DISASTER

4

Tectonic setting (Natural causes)

The tectonic setting of the Kachchh is not well understood It has been characterized as a stable continental region (SCR) but its proximity to Himalayan front and the other active geologic structures suggests that it may be transitional between a SCR and the plate boundary The resolution of this issue would be important for full understanding of the geologic seismologic and ground motion implications of the earthquake As shown on the regional map in Figure 1 the Indian subcontinent is moving northward at a rate of approximately 53 to 63 mmyr colliding with the Asian plate which is also moving northward but at about half the rate of the Indian plate The difference between the relative plate velocities produces an intercontinental collision forming the Himalayan Mountains and driving the Eastward and westward movement of large crustal blocks away from the Himalayan orogen The rate of contraction across the Himalayan Frontal Fault System (HFFS) and along the western boundary of the plate near the IndiaPakistan border is approximately 20 to 25 mmyr The rate of contraction across peninsular India south of the plate margin is about 3 +mmyr The January 26th earthquake occurred less than 400 km from the junction of the Owens fracture zone Makran subduction zone the western most HFFS and the Chaman fault which form the plate boundary Indian addition the Kachchh region is bounded by the Quartery active Khambat graben to the east Within the Kachchh region major structural features include east-trending folds and faults that deform Mesozoic Tertiary and possibly Quaternary units The principal faults are the east-trending Katrol Hills Kachchh Mainland Island Belt and Allah Bund Faults the latter being the source of the M 78 1819 Kachchh Earthquake The January 26th earthquake appears to have occurred at depth beneath the eastern Kachchh Mainland Fault A series of anticlines occurs along the Mainland fault for over 220 km This fold belt may have uplifted Quaternary fluvial terraces on its north flank and terraces on its north flank and formed anticline structures and domes In quaternary () sediments that underlie the salt flats in the eastern Little Rann near 23 17rsquoN 71 14rsquoE The presence of folds along the Kachchh Mainland and Katrol Hill faults involving possible Quaternary deposits suggests that there may be an active fold and thrust belt in the southern Kachchh region However the lack of prominent tectonic geomorphology suggests that the rate of crustal shortening is very low on the order of a few mmyr or less In addition the depth of the earthquake rupture gt17 km suggests that the causative fault may lie beneath and be unrelated to the overlying fold and thrust belt The location of the earthquake within 400 km of the active plate margin near the prominent bend in the plate boundary (245 N) and in a region surrounded by Quaternary active structures and large magnitude historical earthquakes Indicates that western Gujarat may be a transitional zone between the stable continental interior and the plate Margin Analysis of historical seismicity in the region shows a recurrence of approximately 200 years for large Magnitude events such as the 1819 Kachchh and 2001 Bhuj earthquakes Further the presence of folds and faults Involving Tertiary and younger sediments stands in contrast to the marked stability of peninsular India east of the Khambat graben and indicates long-term tectonic activity

5

The relatively high rates of historical seismicity in the Kachchh region compared to peninsular zonation map of India (Figure 2)India is reflected In the higher seismic hazard assigned to the area on the seismic

Earthquake Parameters

The epicentral coordinates of the main shocks obtained from teleseismic data are reported by the USGS to have been 2336 N and 7034 E The hypo central depth was between 17 and 22 kms on a fault plane that strikes aboutN60 E and dips 60 to 70 south with a slip direction of 62 The seismic moment of the event is estimated at 62x10 dyne-cm Initial modeling of slip distributions suggests a maximum displacement of 8 to 9 mat depth and uplift of about 2 m 15 km West of the epicenter The event had reverse motion with a slight right-lateral component of slip Strong ground shaking lasted about 85 seconds and lowerLevel shaking lasted several minutes Many survivors of the earthquake reported feeling two distinct pulses of shaking These may Relate to the separate arrivals of the P-and S-wavesThe closest strong-motion recordings are from Ahmadabad where peak ground acceleration was 011g This is anomalously high given the 225 km distance from the epicenter Ahmadabad is located in the Khambat graben which contains several kilometers of Tertiary and Quaternary sediments and therefore the level of shaking may be related to basin amplification Figure 3 presents a preliminary MSK intensity map for the earthquake A maximum intensity of MSK X occurred over an east-northeast elongated zone of approximately 2100 sq km Most of Gujarat State lies within intensity VII or higher reflecting the widespread damage and low Attenuation of strong ground motion

3 VALNERABILITY OF THE REGION

Bhuj A Typical Large Continental Intraplate Earthquake

The Bhuj earthquake was initially stimulated because the region shares characteristics with the New Madrid seismic zones This intraplate North American active seismic zone also lies within Precambrian cratonic basement topped by relatively thin Paleozoic and younger sediments including thick ( 1 km) unconsolidated Cenozoic and Holocene sediments at the surface Both regions have experienced recurrent and failed rifting but are currently being compressed The calculated seismic hazard in both regions is dominated by the recurrence of large earthquakes with the previous occurrences in the nineteenth century There are differences too between the Bhuj and New Madrid areas and future work will need to explore the extent to which the Bhuj earthquake may be analogous to the New Madrid region seismicity (Ellis et al 2001) The aftershock studies are consistent with an interpretation that the Bhuj earthquake was a blind reverse rupture to considerable depth of a fault internal to an old failed continental rift zone The largest such earthquake recorded by modern seismic instrumentation Bhuj was fairly high in stress drop and powerful It ruptured a previously unmapped fault which was not evident at the surface From the perspective of spatial aftershock distributions several tantalizing features are apparent beside the main rupture plane itself which future investigations may clarify These include hints at small active structures perhaps aftershocks of aftershocks or maybe intersecting structures slipping sympathetically during the main shock

6

4 HISTORY OF DISASTERS IN THE REGION

EARTHQUAKE TAKEN PLACE IN THE REGION

5 THE DISASTERS amp IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

a Evacuation amp immediate response

b Initiatives by Government of India hellipRescue Efforts

The Kachchh region of Gujarat is known for high seismic hazard (see Figure2) yet there was no disaster management plan in place to handle the earthquake emergency and the government of Gujarat was unprepared for a disaster management is the responsibility of state governments with the federal government(GOL) assisting with logistical and financial support After the earthquake GoG and the GoL coordinated well at least partly because the same political partly is in power at the state and federal level

7

Government response was hampered because the earthquake occurred on the Republic Day Holiday and much of the government machinery was involved In the ceremonial activity The time of the quake (846 am) coincided with flag-hoisting ceremonies in many places In some locales this actually saved Numerous lives sinces many officials school children and families had gathered on open ground for the ceremonies however in Anjar about 300 children marching in narrow streets for the Republic Day parade could not escape when buildings collapsed from both sides trapping them An emergency control room in the state capital of Gandhinagar became operational by 930 am with all the facilities of a well-equipped EOCgt However Repeated breakdown in communications with the rest of the state and New Delhi seriously married its effectiveness The telecom officials wear killed by Felling debris The fibre-optic cable that provided connectivity to the Kachchh region was broken resulting in isolation of the district from the rest of Gujarat Even the cellular phone coverage was interrupted Communications with Kachchh were partially restorated two days later but remained the weakest link in Response operationsThe control rooms in places other than Gandhinagar were makeshift in nature lacking in both essential facilities and operational focus While the information From Kachchh trickled in slowly news of collapses of multi-story buildings and consequent deaths poured in from Ahmedabad The GoG focused on the situation In the city but rescue operations were hampered by the lack of expertise and equipment in dealing with the collapses of multistory RC buildings this being the first earthquake in India to have caused such collapses The scale of disaster in Gujarat was so extensive that search and rescue operations were overwhelmed The City of Ahmedabad ran short of cranes and Earthmovers to rescue people from the collapsed buildings In the Kachchh region the towns of Bhuj Bhachau Anjar and Rapar the city of Gandhidham and More than two hundred villages sustained severe to complete devastation There were also deaths and extensive damages in the neighboring towns of Surendranagar Patan Jamnagar Bhavnagar Surat Anand Rajkot and Banskantha It was impossible for the GoG to send rescue teams with cranes and earth moving equipment to every site of devastation but neighboring states and private construction companies and industrial houses in the region contributed to the rescue efforts In many cases large bulldozers could not downtown areas due to narrow streets blocked by rubble As is the case in all such disasters rescue in the initial hours was carried out by local survivors of the disaster Later the Indian Army performed most of the rescues and flew in heavy equipment The Army also set up relief camps distributed food and provided medical assistance including surgical units

c Role of Armed Forces

The Military Hospitals in the Kachchh region Ahmedabad and Pune treated the injured The army also provided much needed security for property On the Whole the Indian Army received tremendous acclamation for their efforts

8

6 a Relief Operations Relief assistance began arriving in 72 hours from both within and outside the country Numerous non-government organizations (NGOs) industrial houses and religious organizations provided relief assistance in the form of cooked food water blankets tents and medicine The governments of several other states in India contributed significant relief materials The Gol welcomed all foreign agencies that wished to help in the rescue and relief As a result a large number of countries sent teams to participate in rescue and relief The Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase at Bhuj was critical for receiving emergency supplies and personnel Even though the IAF sustained significant losses at Bhuj and ten personnel were killed the runway was made operational by the afternoon of the first day Bhuj became one of the busiest airports in India in the first five days following the earthquake the otherwise sleepy Bhuj airport handled 800 landings and departures which is more than the traffic at the Delhi and Mumbai airports combined After the first few days of apparently disorganized and weak response the GoG improved coordination of the rescue and relief effort A senior officer was appointed as the Relief Coordination at Bhuj and a new District Collector took charge By this time road rail and telecom links had been restored thanks to the extraordinary deduction of officials of these departments A coordination unit was set up at Bombay to facilitate the handling of international relief While there was a glut of relief material in the villages on the main road adequate relief did not reach many of the villages in the interior areas Some of the problems were 1) Poor coordination with the NGOs which distributed relief material as they felt appropriate which did not necessarily mean optimal distribution of relief material for the entire affected population 2) Distribution of relief material through the public distribution system which required people to produce the ration cards that they used during normal times and 3) The relief materials were sometimes inappropriate for needs of the people (eg in one instance tinned sardines were supplied to the people of Kachchh who are predominantly vegetarian) As the days passed temporary shelters for the homeless emerged as the most pressing need The supply of tents was far short of the demand

b Rehabilitation Plans The GoG planned for the long-term rehabilitation of the people rendered homeless and has announced liberal financial assistance for those whose houses were partially or fully damaged The rehabilitation plans provide for relocation of villages sustaining more than 70 damage to new locations when the local village government so recommends The entire rehabilitation scheme envisages a very strong participation of the NGO sector Reconstruction of the region is a daunting task by any standard but despite the devastation both the government and people of Gujarat show remarkable confidence that Kachchh will rise again

9

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

Tectonic setting (Natural causes)

The tectonic setting of the Kachchh is not well understood It has been characterized as a stable continental region (SCR) but its proximity to Himalayan front and the other active geologic structures suggests that it may be transitional between a SCR and the plate boundary The resolution of this issue would be important for full understanding of the geologic seismologic and ground motion implications of the earthquake As shown on the regional map in Figure 1 the Indian subcontinent is moving northward at a rate of approximately 53 to 63 mmyr colliding with the Asian plate which is also moving northward but at about half the rate of the Indian plate The difference between the relative plate velocities produces an intercontinental collision forming the Himalayan Mountains and driving the Eastward and westward movement of large crustal blocks away from the Himalayan orogen The rate of contraction across the Himalayan Frontal Fault System (HFFS) and along the western boundary of the plate near the IndiaPakistan border is approximately 20 to 25 mmyr The rate of contraction across peninsular India south of the plate margin is about 3 +mmyr The January 26th earthquake occurred less than 400 km from the junction of the Owens fracture zone Makran subduction zone the western most HFFS and the Chaman fault which form the plate boundary Indian addition the Kachchh region is bounded by the Quartery active Khambat graben to the east Within the Kachchh region major structural features include east-trending folds and faults that deform Mesozoic Tertiary and possibly Quaternary units The principal faults are the east-trending Katrol Hills Kachchh Mainland Island Belt and Allah Bund Faults the latter being the source of the M 78 1819 Kachchh Earthquake The January 26th earthquake appears to have occurred at depth beneath the eastern Kachchh Mainland Fault A series of anticlines occurs along the Mainland fault for over 220 km This fold belt may have uplifted Quaternary fluvial terraces on its north flank and terraces on its north flank and formed anticline structures and domes In quaternary () sediments that underlie the salt flats in the eastern Little Rann near 23 17rsquoN 71 14rsquoE The presence of folds along the Kachchh Mainland and Katrol Hill faults involving possible Quaternary deposits suggests that there may be an active fold and thrust belt in the southern Kachchh region However the lack of prominent tectonic geomorphology suggests that the rate of crustal shortening is very low on the order of a few mmyr or less In addition the depth of the earthquake rupture gt17 km suggests that the causative fault may lie beneath and be unrelated to the overlying fold and thrust belt The location of the earthquake within 400 km of the active plate margin near the prominent bend in the plate boundary (245 N) and in a region surrounded by Quaternary active structures and large magnitude historical earthquakes Indicates that western Gujarat may be a transitional zone between the stable continental interior and the plate Margin Analysis of historical seismicity in the region shows a recurrence of approximately 200 years for large Magnitude events such as the 1819 Kachchh and 2001 Bhuj earthquakes Further the presence of folds and faults Involving Tertiary and younger sediments stands in contrast to the marked stability of peninsular India east of the Khambat graben and indicates long-term tectonic activity

5

The relatively high rates of historical seismicity in the Kachchh region compared to peninsular zonation map of India (Figure 2)India is reflected In the higher seismic hazard assigned to the area on the seismic

Earthquake Parameters

The epicentral coordinates of the main shocks obtained from teleseismic data are reported by the USGS to have been 2336 N and 7034 E The hypo central depth was between 17 and 22 kms on a fault plane that strikes aboutN60 E and dips 60 to 70 south with a slip direction of 62 The seismic moment of the event is estimated at 62x10 dyne-cm Initial modeling of slip distributions suggests a maximum displacement of 8 to 9 mat depth and uplift of about 2 m 15 km West of the epicenter The event had reverse motion with a slight right-lateral component of slip Strong ground shaking lasted about 85 seconds and lowerLevel shaking lasted several minutes Many survivors of the earthquake reported feeling two distinct pulses of shaking These may Relate to the separate arrivals of the P-and S-wavesThe closest strong-motion recordings are from Ahmadabad where peak ground acceleration was 011g This is anomalously high given the 225 km distance from the epicenter Ahmadabad is located in the Khambat graben which contains several kilometers of Tertiary and Quaternary sediments and therefore the level of shaking may be related to basin amplification Figure 3 presents a preliminary MSK intensity map for the earthquake A maximum intensity of MSK X occurred over an east-northeast elongated zone of approximately 2100 sq km Most of Gujarat State lies within intensity VII or higher reflecting the widespread damage and low Attenuation of strong ground motion

3 VALNERABILITY OF THE REGION

Bhuj A Typical Large Continental Intraplate Earthquake

The Bhuj earthquake was initially stimulated because the region shares characteristics with the New Madrid seismic zones This intraplate North American active seismic zone also lies within Precambrian cratonic basement topped by relatively thin Paleozoic and younger sediments including thick ( 1 km) unconsolidated Cenozoic and Holocene sediments at the surface Both regions have experienced recurrent and failed rifting but are currently being compressed The calculated seismic hazard in both regions is dominated by the recurrence of large earthquakes with the previous occurrences in the nineteenth century There are differences too between the Bhuj and New Madrid areas and future work will need to explore the extent to which the Bhuj earthquake may be analogous to the New Madrid region seismicity (Ellis et al 2001) The aftershock studies are consistent with an interpretation that the Bhuj earthquake was a blind reverse rupture to considerable depth of a fault internal to an old failed continental rift zone The largest such earthquake recorded by modern seismic instrumentation Bhuj was fairly high in stress drop and powerful It ruptured a previously unmapped fault which was not evident at the surface From the perspective of spatial aftershock distributions several tantalizing features are apparent beside the main rupture plane itself which future investigations may clarify These include hints at small active structures perhaps aftershocks of aftershocks or maybe intersecting structures slipping sympathetically during the main shock

6

4 HISTORY OF DISASTERS IN THE REGION

EARTHQUAKE TAKEN PLACE IN THE REGION

5 THE DISASTERS amp IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

a Evacuation amp immediate response

b Initiatives by Government of India hellipRescue Efforts

The Kachchh region of Gujarat is known for high seismic hazard (see Figure2) yet there was no disaster management plan in place to handle the earthquake emergency and the government of Gujarat was unprepared for a disaster management is the responsibility of state governments with the federal government(GOL) assisting with logistical and financial support After the earthquake GoG and the GoL coordinated well at least partly because the same political partly is in power at the state and federal level

7

Government response was hampered because the earthquake occurred on the Republic Day Holiday and much of the government machinery was involved In the ceremonial activity The time of the quake (846 am) coincided with flag-hoisting ceremonies in many places In some locales this actually saved Numerous lives sinces many officials school children and families had gathered on open ground for the ceremonies however in Anjar about 300 children marching in narrow streets for the Republic Day parade could not escape when buildings collapsed from both sides trapping them An emergency control room in the state capital of Gandhinagar became operational by 930 am with all the facilities of a well-equipped EOCgt However Repeated breakdown in communications with the rest of the state and New Delhi seriously married its effectiveness The telecom officials wear killed by Felling debris The fibre-optic cable that provided connectivity to the Kachchh region was broken resulting in isolation of the district from the rest of Gujarat Even the cellular phone coverage was interrupted Communications with Kachchh were partially restorated two days later but remained the weakest link in Response operationsThe control rooms in places other than Gandhinagar were makeshift in nature lacking in both essential facilities and operational focus While the information From Kachchh trickled in slowly news of collapses of multi-story buildings and consequent deaths poured in from Ahmedabad The GoG focused on the situation In the city but rescue operations were hampered by the lack of expertise and equipment in dealing with the collapses of multistory RC buildings this being the first earthquake in India to have caused such collapses The scale of disaster in Gujarat was so extensive that search and rescue operations were overwhelmed The City of Ahmedabad ran short of cranes and Earthmovers to rescue people from the collapsed buildings In the Kachchh region the towns of Bhuj Bhachau Anjar and Rapar the city of Gandhidham and More than two hundred villages sustained severe to complete devastation There were also deaths and extensive damages in the neighboring towns of Surendranagar Patan Jamnagar Bhavnagar Surat Anand Rajkot and Banskantha It was impossible for the GoG to send rescue teams with cranes and earth moving equipment to every site of devastation but neighboring states and private construction companies and industrial houses in the region contributed to the rescue efforts In many cases large bulldozers could not downtown areas due to narrow streets blocked by rubble As is the case in all such disasters rescue in the initial hours was carried out by local survivors of the disaster Later the Indian Army performed most of the rescues and flew in heavy equipment The Army also set up relief camps distributed food and provided medical assistance including surgical units

c Role of Armed Forces

The Military Hospitals in the Kachchh region Ahmedabad and Pune treated the injured The army also provided much needed security for property On the Whole the Indian Army received tremendous acclamation for their efforts

8

6 a Relief Operations Relief assistance began arriving in 72 hours from both within and outside the country Numerous non-government organizations (NGOs) industrial houses and religious organizations provided relief assistance in the form of cooked food water blankets tents and medicine The governments of several other states in India contributed significant relief materials The Gol welcomed all foreign agencies that wished to help in the rescue and relief As a result a large number of countries sent teams to participate in rescue and relief The Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase at Bhuj was critical for receiving emergency supplies and personnel Even though the IAF sustained significant losses at Bhuj and ten personnel were killed the runway was made operational by the afternoon of the first day Bhuj became one of the busiest airports in India in the first five days following the earthquake the otherwise sleepy Bhuj airport handled 800 landings and departures which is more than the traffic at the Delhi and Mumbai airports combined After the first few days of apparently disorganized and weak response the GoG improved coordination of the rescue and relief effort A senior officer was appointed as the Relief Coordination at Bhuj and a new District Collector took charge By this time road rail and telecom links had been restored thanks to the extraordinary deduction of officials of these departments A coordination unit was set up at Bombay to facilitate the handling of international relief While there was a glut of relief material in the villages on the main road adequate relief did not reach many of the villages in the interior areas Some of the problems were 1) Poor coordination with the NGOs which distributed relief material as they felt appropriate which did not necessarily mean optimal distribution of relief material for the entire affected population 2) Distribution of relief material through the public distribution system which required people to produce the ration cards that they used during normal times and 3) The relief materials were sometimes inappropriate for needs of the people (eg in one instance tinned sardines were supplied to the people of Kachchh who are predominantly vegetarian) As the days passed temporary shelters for the homeless emerged as the most pressing need The supply of tents was far short of the demand

b Rehabilitation Plans The GoG planned for the long-term rehabilitation of the people rendered homeless and has announced liberal financial assistance for those whose houses were partially or fully damaged The rehabilitation plans provide for relocation of villages sustaining more than 70 damage to new locations when the local village government so recommends The entire rehabilitation scheme envisages a very strong participation of the NGO sector Reconstruction of the region is a daunting task by any standard but despite the devastation both the government and people of Gujarat show remarkable confidence that Kachchh will rise again

9

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

The relatively high rates of historical seismicity in the Kachchh region compared to peninsular zonation map of India (Figure 2)India is reflected In the higher seismic hazard assigned to the area on the seismic

Earthquake Parameters

The epicentral coordinates of the main shocks obtained from teleseismic data are reported by the USGS to have been 2336 N and 7034 E The hypo central depth was between 17 and 22 kms on a fault plane that strikes aboutN60 E and dips 60 to 70 south with a slip direction of 62 The seismic moment of the event is estimated at 62x10 dyne-cm Initial modeling of slip distributions suggests a maximum displacement of 8 to 9 mat depth and uplift of about 2 m 15 km West of the epicenter The event had reverse motion with a slight right-lateral component of slip Strong ground shaking lasted about 85 seconds and lowerLevel shaking lasted several minutes Many survivors of the earthquake reported feeling two distinct pulses of shaking These may Relate to the separate arrivals of the P-and S-wavesThe closest strong-motion recordings are from Ahmadabad where peak ground acceleration was 011g This is anomalously high given the 225 km distance from the epicenter Ahmadabad is located in the Khambat graben which contains several kilometers of Tertiary and Quaternary sediments and therefore the level of shaking may be related to basin amplification Figure 3 presents a preliminary MSK intensity map for the earthquake A maximum intensity of MSK X occurred over an east-northeast elongated zone of approximately 2100 sq km Most of Gujarat State lies within intensity VII or higher reflecting the widespread damage and low Attenuation of strong ground motion

3 VALNERABILITY OF THE REGION

Bhuj A Typical Large Continental Intraplate Earthquake

The Bhuj earthquake was initially stimulated because the region shares characteristics with the New Madrid seismic zones This intraplate North American active seismic zone also lies within Precambrian cratonic basement topped by relatively thin Paleozoic and younger sediments including thick ( 1 km) unconsolidated Cenozoic and Holocene sediments at the surface Both regions have experienced recurrent and failed rifting but are currently being compressed The calculated seismic hazard in both regions is dominated by the recurrence of large earthquakes with the previous occurrences in the nineteenth century There are differences too between the Bhuj and New Madrid areas and future work will need to explore the extent to which the Bhuj earthquake may be analogous to the New Madrid region seismicity (Ellis et al 2001) The aftershock studies are consistent with an interpretation that the Bhuj earthquake was a blind reverse rupture to considerable depth of a fault internal to an old failed continental rift zone The largest such earthquake recorded by modern seismic instrumentation Bhuj was fairly high in stress drop and powerful It ruptured a previously unmapped fault which was not evident at the surface From the perspective of spatial aftershock distributions several tantalizing features are apparent beside the main rupture plane itself which future investigations may clarify These include hints at small active structures perhaps aftershocks of aftershocks or maybe intersecting structures slipping sympathetically during the main shock

6

4 HISTORY OF DISASTERS IN THE REGION

EARTHQUAKE TAKEN PLACE IN THE REGION

5 THE DISASTERS amp IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

a Evacuation amp immediate response

b Initiatives by Government of India hellipRescue Efforts

The Kachchh region of Gujarat is known for high seismic hazard (see Figure2) yet there was no disaster management plan in place to handle the earthquake emergency and the government of Gujarat was unprepared for a disaster management is the responsibility of state governments with the federal government(GOL) assisting with logistical and financial support After the earthquake GoG and the GoL coordinated well at least partly because the same political partly is in power at the state and federal level

7

Government response was hampered because the earthquake occurred on the Republic Day Holiday and much of the government machinery was involved In the ceremonial activity The time of the quake (846 am) coincided with flag-hoisting ceremonies in many places In some locales this actually saved Numerous lives sinces many officials school children and families had gathered on open ground for the ceremonies however in Anjar about 300 children marching in narrow streets for the Republic Day parade could not escape when buildings collapsed from both sides trapping them An emergency control room in the state capital of Gandhinagar became operational by 930 am with all the facilities of a well-equipped EOCgt However Repeated breakdown in communications with the rest of the state and New Delhi seriously married its effectiveness The telecom officials wear killed by Felling debris The fibre-optic cable that provided connectivity to the Kachchh region was broken resulting in isolation of the district from the rest of Gujarat Even the cellular phone coverage was interrupted Communications with Kachchh were partially restorated two days later but remained the weakest link in Response operationsThe control rooms in places other than Gandhinagar were makeshift in nature lacking in both essential facilities and operational focus While the information From Kachchh trickled in slowly news of collapses of multi-story buildings and consequent deaths poured in from Ahmedabad The GoG focused on the situation In the city but rescue operations were hampered by the lack of expertise and equipment in dealing with the collapses of multistory RC buildings this being the first earthquake in India to have caused such collapses The scale of disaster in Gujarat was so extensive that search and rescue operations were overwhelmed The City of Ahmedabad ran short of cranes and Earthmovers to rescue people from the collapsed buildings In the Kachchh region the towns of Bhuj Bhachau Anjar and Rapar the city of Gandhidham and More than two hundred villages sustained severe to complete devastation There were also deaths and extensive damages in the neighboring towns of Surendranagar Patan Jamnagar Bhavnagar Surat Anand Rajkot and Banskantha It was impossible for the GoG to send rescue teams with cranes and earth moving equipment to every site of devastation but neighboring states and private construction companies and industrial houses in the region contributed to the rescue efforts In many cases large bulldozers could not downtown areas due to narrow streets blocked by rubble As is the case in all such disasters rescue in the initial hours was carried out by local survivors of the disaster Later the Indian Army performed most of the rescues and flew in heavy equipment The Army also set up relief camps distributed food and provided medical assistance including surgical units

c Role of Armed Forces

The Military Hospitals in the Kachchh region Ahmedabad and Pune treated the injured The army also provided much needed security for property On the Whole the Indian Army received tremendous acclamation for their efforts

8

6 a Relief Operations Relief assistance began arriving in 72 hours from both within and outside the country Numerous non-government organizations (NGOs) industrial houses and religious organizations provided relief assistance in the form of cooked food water blankets tents and medicine The governments of several other states in India contributed significant relief materials The Gol welcomed all foreign agencies that wished to help in the rescue and relief As a result a large number of countries sent teams to participate in rescue and relief The Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase at Bhuj was critical for receiving emergency supplies and personnel Even though the IAF sustained significant losses at Bhuj and ten personnel were killed the runway was made operational by the afternoon of the first day Bhuj became one of the busiest airports in India in the first five days following the earthquake the otherwise sleepy Bhuj airport handled 800 landings and departures which is more than the traffic at the Delhi and Mumbai airports combined After the first few days of apparently disorganized and weak response the GoG improved coordination of the rescue and relief effort A senior officer was appointed as the Relief Coordination at Bhuj and a new District Collector took charge By this time road rail and telecom links had been restored thanks to the extraordinary deduction of officials of these departments A coordination unit was set up at Bombay to facilitate the handling of international relief While there was a glut of relief material in the villages on the main road adequate relief did not reach many of the villages in the interior areas Some of the problems were 1) Poor coordination with the NGOs which distributed relief material as they felt appropriate which did not necessarily mean optimal distribution of relief material for the entire affected population 2) Distribution of relief material through the public distribution system which required people to produce the ration cards that they used during normal times and 3) The relief materials were sometimes inappropriate for needs of the people (eg in one instance tinned sardines were supplied to the people of Kachchh who are predominantly vegetarian) As the days passed temporary shelters for the homeless emerged as the most pressing need The supply of tents was far short of the demand

b Rehabilitation Plans The GoG planned for the long-term rehabilitation of the people rendered homeless and has announced liberal financial assistance for those whose houses were partially or fully damaged The rehabilitation plans provide for relocation of villages sustaining more than 70 damage to new locations when the local village government so recommends The entire rehabilitation scheme envisages a very strong participation of the NGO sector Reconstruction of the region is a daunting task by any standard but despite the devastation both the government and people of Gujarat show remarkable confidence that Kachchh will rise again

9

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

4 HISTORY OF DISASTERS IN THE REGION

EARTHQUAKE TAKEN PLACE IN THE REGION

5 THE DISASTERS amp IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

a Evacuation amp immediate response

b Initiatives by Government of India hellipRescue Efforts

The Kachchh region of Gujarat is known for high seismic hazard (see Figure2) yet there was no disaster management plan in place to handle the earthquake emergency and the government of Gujarat was unprepared for a disaster management is the responsibility of state governments with the federal government(GOL) assisting with logistical and financial support After the earthquake GoG and the GoL coordinated well at least partly because the same political partly is in power at the state and federal level

7

Government response was hampered because the earthquake occurred on the Republic Day Holiday and much of the government machinery was involved In the ceremonial activity The time of the quake (846 am) coincided with flag-hoisting ceremonies in many places In some locales this actually saved Numerous lives sinces many officials school children and families had gathered on open ground for the ceremonies however in Anjar about 300 children marching in narrow streets for the Republic Day parade could not escape when buildings collapsed from both sides trapping them An emergency control room in the state capital of Gandhinagar became operational by 930 am with all the facilities of a well-equipped EOCgt However Repeated breakdown in communications with the rest of the state and New Delhi seriously married its effectiveness The telecom officials wear killed by Felling debris The fibre-optic cable that provided connectivity to the Kachchh region was broken resulting in isolation of the district from the rest of Gujarat Even the cellular phone coverage was interrupted Communications with Kachchh were partially restorated two days later but remained the weakest link in Response operationsThe control rooms in places other than Gandhinagar were makeshift in nature lacking in both essential facilities and operational focus While the information From Kachchh trickled in slowly news of collapses of multi-story buildings and consequent deaths poured in from Ahmedabad The GoG focused on the situation In the city but rescue operations were hampered by the lack of expertise and equipment in dealing with the collapses of multistory RC buildings this being the first earthquake in India to have caused such collapses The scale of disaster in Gujarat was so extensive that search and rescue operations were overwhelmed The City of Ahmedabad ran short of cranes and Earthmovers to rescue people from the collapsed buildings In the Kachchh region the towns of Bhuj Bhachau Anjar and Rapar the city of Gandhidham and More than two hundred villages sustained severe to complete devastation There were also deaths and extensive damages in the neighboring towns of Surendranagar Patan Jamnagar Bhavnagar Surat Anand Rajkot and Banskantha It was impossible for the GoG to send rescue teams with cranes and earth moving equipment to every site of devastation but neighboring states and private construction companies and industrial houses in the region contributed to the rescue efforts In many cases large bulldozers could not downtown areas due to narrow streets blocked by rubble As is the case in all such disasters rescue in the initial hours was carried out by local survivors of the disaster Later the Indian Army performed most of the rescues and flew in heavy equipment The Army also set up relief camps distributed food and provided medical assistance including surgical units

c Role of Armed Forces

The Military Hospitals in the Kachchh region Ahmedabad and Pune treated the injured The army also provided much needed security for property On the Whole the Indian Army received tremendous acclamation for their efforts

8

6 a Relief Operations Relief assistance began arriving in 72 hours from both within and outside the country Numerous non-government organizations (NGOs) industrial houses and religious organizations provided relief assistance in the form of cooked food water blankets tents and medicine The governments of several other states in India contributed significant relief materials The Gol welcomed all foreign agencies that wished to help in the rescue and relief As a result a large number of countries sent teams to participate in rescue and relief The Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase at Bhuj was critical for receiving emergency supplies and personnel Even though the IAF sustained significant losses at Bhuj and ten personnel were killed the runway was made operational by the afternoon of the first day Bhuj became one of the busiest airports in India in the first five days following the earthquake the otherwise sleepy Bhuj airport handled 800 landings and departures which is more than the traffic at the Delhi and Mumbai airports combined After the first few days of apparently disorganized and weak response the GoG improved coordination of the rescue and relief effort A senior officer was appointed as the Relief Coordination at Bhuj and a new District Collector took charge By this time road rail and telecom links had been restored thanks to the extraordinary deduction of officials of these departments A coordination unit was set up at Bombay to facilitate the handling of international relief While there was a glut of relief material in the villages on the main road adequate relief did not reach many of the villages in the interior areas Some of the problems were 1) Poor coordination with the NGOs which distributed relief material as they felt appropriate which did not necessarily mean optimal distribution of relief material for the entire affected population 2) Distribution of relief material through the public distribution system which required people to produce the ration cards that they used during normal times and 3) The relief materials were sometimes inappropriate for needs of the people (eg in one instance tinned sardines were supplied to the people of Kachchh who are predominantly vegetarian) As the days passed temporary shelters for the homeless emerged as the most pressing need The supply of tents was far short of the demand

b Rehabilitation Plans The GoG planned for the long-term rehabilitation of the people rendered homeless and has announced liberal financial assistance for those whose houses were partially or fully damaged The rehabilitation plans provide for relocation of villages sustaining more than 70 damage to new locations when the local village government so recommends The entire rehabilitation scheme envisages a very strong participation of the NGO sector Reconstruction of the region is a daunting task by any standard but despite the devastation both the government and people of Gujarat show remarkable confidence that Kachchh will rise again

9

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

Government response was hampered because the earthquake occurred on the Republic Day Holiday and much of the government machinery was involved In the ceremonial activity The time of the quake (846 am) coincided with flag-hoisting ceremonies in many places In some locales this actually saved Numerous lives sinces many officials school children and families had gathered on open ground for the ceremonies however in Anjar about 300 children marching in narrow streets for the Republic Day parade could not escape when buildings collapsed from both sides trapping them An emergency control room in the state capital of Gandhinagar became operational by 930 am with all the facilities of a well-equipped EOCgt However Repeated breakdown in communications with the rest of the state and New Delhi seriously married its effectiveness The telecom officials wear killed by Felling debris The fibre-optic cable that provided connectivity to the Kachchh region was broken resulting in isolation of the district from the rest of Gujarat Even the cellular phone coverage was interrupted Communications with Kachchh were partially restorated two days later but remained the weakest link in Response operationsThe control rooms in places other than Gandhinagar were makeshift in nature lacking in both essential facilities and operational focus While the information From Kachchh trickled in slowly news of collapses of multi-story buildings and consequent deaths poured in from Ahmedabad The GoG focused on the situation In the city but rescue operations were hampered by the lack of expertise and equipment in dealing with the collapses of multistory RC buildings this being the first earthquake in India to have caused such collapses The scale of disaster in Gujarat was so extensive that search and rescue operations were overwhelmed The City of Ahmedabad ran short of cranes and Earthmovers to rescue people from the collapsed buildings In the Kachchh region the towns of Bhuj Bhachau Anjar and Rapar the city of Gandhidham and More than two hundred villages sustained severe to complete devastation There were also deaths and extensive damages in the neighboring towns of Surendranagar Patan Jamnagar Bhavnagar Surat Anand Rajkot and Banskantha It was impossible for the GoG to send rescue teams with cranes and earth moving equipment to every site of devastation but neighboring states and private construction companies and industrial houses in the region contributed to the rescue efforts In many cases large bulldozers could not downtown areas due to narrow streets blocked by rubble As is the case in all such disasters rescue in the initial hours was carried out by local survivors of the disaster Later the Indian Army performed most of the rescues and flew in heavy equipment The Army also set up relief camps distributed food and provided medical assistance including surgical units

c Role of Armed Forces

The Military Hospitals in the Kachchh region Ahmedabad and Pune treated the injured The army also provided much needed security for property On the Whole the Indian Army received tremendous acclamation for their efforts

8

6 a Relief Operations Relief assistance began arriving in 72 hours from both within and outside the country Numerous non-government organizations (NGOs) industrial houses and religious organizations provided relief assistance in the form of cooked food water blankets tents and medicine The governments of several other states in India contributed significant relief materials The Gol welcomed all foreign agencies that wished to help in the rescue and relief As a result a large number of countries sent teams to participate in rescue and relief The Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase at Bhuj was critical for receiving emergency supplies and personnel Even though the IAF sustained significant losses at Bhuj and ten personnel were killed the runway was made operational by the afternoon of the first day Bhuj became one of the busiest airports in India in the first five days following the earthquake the otherwise sleepy Bhuj airport handled 800 landings and departures which is more than the traffic at the Delhi and Mumbai airports combined After the first few days of apparently disorganized and weak response the GoG improved coordination of the rescue and relief effort A senior officer was appointed as the Relief Coordination at Bhuj and a new District Collector took charge By this time road rail and telecom links had been restored thanks to the extraordinary deduction of officials of these departments A coordination unit was set up at Bombay to facilitate the handling of international relief While there was a glut of relief material in the villages on the main road adequate relief did not reach many of the villages in the interior areas Some of the problems were 1) Poor coordination with the NGOs which distributed relief material as they felt appropriate which did not necessarily mean optimal distribution of relief material for the entire affected population 2) Distribution of relief material through the public distribution system which required people to produce the ration cards that they used during normal times and 3) The relief materials were sometimes inappropriate for needs of the people (eg in one instance tinned sardines were supplied to the people of Kachchh who are predominantly vegetarian) As the days passed temporary shelters for the homeless emerged as the most pressing need The supply of tents was far short of the demand

b Rehabilitation Plans The GoG planned for the long-term rehabilitation of the people rendered homeless and has announced liberal financial assistance for those whose houses were partially or fully damaged The rehabilitation plans provide for relocation of villages sustaining more than 70 damage to new locations when the local village government so recommends The entire rehabilitation scheme envisages a very strong participation of the NGO sector Reconstruction of the region is a daunting task by any standard but despite the devastation both the government and people of Gujarat show remarkable confidence that Kachchh will rise again

9

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

6 a Relief Operations Relief assistance began arriving in 72 hours from both within and outside the country Numerous non-government organizations (NGOs) industrial houses and religious organizations provided relief assistance in the form of cooked food water blankets tents and medicine The governments of several other states in India contributed significant relief materials The Gol welcomed all foreign agencies that wished to help in the rescue and relief As a result a large number of countries sent teams to participate in rescue and relief The Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase at Bhuj was critical for receiving emergency supplies and personnel Even though the IAF sustained significant losses at Bhuj and ten personnel were killed the runway was made operational by the afternoon of the first day Bhuj became one of the busiest airports in India in the first five days following the earthquake the otherwise sleepy Bhuj airport handled 800 landings and departures which is more than the traffic at the Delhi and Mumbai airports combined After the first few days of apparently disorganized and weak response the GoG improved coordination of the rescue and relief effort A senior officer was appointed as the Relief Coordination at Bhuj and a new District Collector took charge By this time road rail and telecom links had been restored thanks to the extraordinary deduction of officials of these departments A coordination unit was set up at Bombay to facilitate the handling of international relief While there was a glut of relief material in the villages on the main road adequate relief did not reach many of the villages in the interior areas Some of the problems were 1) Poor coordination with the NGOs which distributed relief material as they felt appropriate which did not necessarily mean optimal distribution of relief material for the entire affected population 2) Distribution of relief material through the public distribution system which required people to produce the ration cards that they used during normal times and 3) The relief materials were sometimes inappropriate for needs of the people (eg in one instance tinned sardines were supplied to the people of Kachchh who are predominantly vegetarian) As the days passed temporary shelters for the homeless emerged as the most pressing need The supply of tents was far short of the demand

b Rehabilitation Plans The GoG planned for the long-term rehabilitation of the people rendered homeless and has announced liberal financial assistance for those whose houses were partially or fully damaged The rehabilitation plans provide for relocation of villages sustaining more than 70 damage to new locations when the local village government so recommends The entire rehabilitation scheme envisages a very strong participation of the NGO sector Reconstruction of the region is a daunting task by any standard but despite the devastation both the government and people of Gujarat show remarkable confidence that Kachchh will rise again

9

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

After the initial relief phase Government of Gujarat launched a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation program in the affected areas It was a great challenge to conceptualize a massive reconstruction program yet within a very short period government announced a comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation policy which included assistance for restoration of private houses economic rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure prepare the people to face disasters through community participation and multi hazard preparedness programs human resource development and livelihood support based on sustainable economy and ecology Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was created as the nodal agency to implement the massive reconstruction program The task accomplished 1048713Over 908710(99) houses repaired and 197091 houses (89)houses reconstructed 104871342678 schoolrooms repaired (100) 104871312442 Schoolrooms reconstructed (152) 10487133391 public building repaired 10487131245 public buildings reconstructed and work in 562 buildings in progress 10487135223 km of transmission and distribution lines repaired 1048713Repairreconstruction of 640 km of state highways amp 3061 km of rural roads completed 1048713Laying of 2750 km of water supply pipelines including drilling of 222 deep tube wells 1048713Restored the livelihood of 200000 families

Better houses upgraded infrastructure good hospitals and schools can certainly be counted as something that has changed for the better in the earthquake affected areas A benefit monitoring study done through a third party captures the benefits which have accrued to the affected people very well as outlined below Indicator

Before the earthquake After the earthquake

Number of Pucca houses

66 100

Beneficiaries living in homes with separate toilets

32 53

Insurance of reconstructed houses

6 49

People knowing what to do before during and after a disaster

0

80

Employment level among women

42 92

Water supply through pipelines at home

30 34

Quality of life index 100 1143

10

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

Though the changes as reflected by the benefit monitoring study is impressive what really can be counted as the most important change is the approach and attitude of government and people towards disaster management itself Before Gujarat earthquake the disaster management was basically governed by Gujarat Relief Manualrdquo The entire approach was to provide relief after the occurrence of the disaster as per the guidelines laid down in the Relief Manual The Gujarat earthquake resulted in a paradigm shift in the policy of the Government from relief and humanitarian assistance oriented post-disaster intervention to a pro-active prevention mitigation and pre-disaster preparedness Comprehensive Gujarat State Disaster Management Policy was declared in November 2002 Legal and Regulatory requirement for effective disaster management resulted in enactment of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Act in March 2003 Gujarat is the first State in India to enact an act for disaster management

Long-term disaster management capacity building has been made part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program not only to ensure sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation but also to reduce vulnerability and reduce risk Various structural and non-structural measures and training and capacity building measures have been initiated on a large scale in Gujarat which has permanently changed the way the government and the communities cope up with disasters in Gujarat

The Gujarat earthquake did not only result in changes in focus from relief to mitigation and setting up of institutional mechanism for the same in Gujarat but has brought about a major change at the national level towards disaster management At the National level emphasis now is being laid on disaster mitigation The planning commission has recommended for utilizing 10 of the plan funds for pre-disaster mitigation and planning A national level disaster management authority on the lines of GSDMA is being worked out at the central government level Draft bill on National Disaster Management has been prepared Many of the lessons learnt and best practices of Gujarat initiated after the earthquake is being replicated at the national level and at the state level in other states including setting up of disaster management authorities and enactment of bills etc The approach and process of Gujarat earthquake reconstruction is now being looked at as a model for reconstruction in the earthquake affected areas in Bam and Tsunami reconstruction in Srilanka Indonesia and in the tsunami affected south Indian states

The various initiatives undertaken for integrating reconstruction and long-term disaster management capacity building have resulted in a major change in the way reconstruction programs are being done in India and the neighboring countries This has in turn resulted in a major shift towards prevention and mitigation of disasters from the age-old relief oriented disaster management in India

11

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

c Management of Earthquake The guidelines emphasize that all new structures are built in compliance with earthquake resistant building codes Town planning bye-laws structural safety audits of existing lifeline structures and other critical structures in earthquake prone areas carrying out selective seismic strengthening and retrofitting ought to be addressed Inspite of the immediate sense of shock confusion helplessness and grief the government and the community rose to the occasion and quickly responded to the event Soon after a holistic and comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme was put in place A new Organization the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority was established The Government of Gujarat also announced the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy (2001) The Gujarat Earthquake Reconstruction Programme was designed to address the needs of the affected people comprehensively It adopted a building back better approach involved the community and encompassed a number of sectors such as housing physical infrastructure social infrastructure (education and health) urban reconstruction livelihood restoration social rehabilitation and long term disaster risk reduction

The reconstruction programme had the following objectives(i) Promoting sustainable recovery in disaster affected areas and(ii) Laying the foundation for sustainable disaster management capacity in Gujarat The phase-wise focus of the programme is summarized as follows(a) The short term focus of the reconstruction programme was to address the immediate needs such as temporary shelters before the onset of the monsoon debris removal repair of houses and public buildings and emergency repair of irrigation structuresRecovery Reconstruction and Rehabilitation(b) The medium term objectives of the programme emphasized the repair and reconstruction of houses public infrastructure and social infrastructure and initiating efforts towards disaster Mitigation and reduction(c) The long term objective of the reconstruction programme was further strengthening the capacity of government institutions and community towards disaster risk reduction (Preparedness response mitigation and prevention) and implementation of risk transfer Mechanism

Some of the salient features of the Gujarat Reconstruction Programme are as follows

(i) Owner Driven Reconstruction The reconstruction of the houses was done by the ownersthemselves with technical assistance provided by the government This involved minimumrelocation and out of 215255 houses that were reconstructed only 5720 houses werepartially relocated To provide technical guidance to the community and ensure that thenewly built houses were hazard resistant large number of engineers architects and masonswere trained and technical guidelines were developed A third party audit mechanism wasestablished to control quality

12

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

(ii) Housing Insurance The Housing Insurance Programme was incorporated as a compulsory Component for all G-5 houses and optional for houses of other categories The insurance covered 14 types of risks for 10 years and the premium was fixed at ` 34910 for an insured Sum of `1 lakh(iii) Urban reconstruction of all the four towns in Kutch ensured planning principles with Improvement of basic services and urban environment(iv) A regulatory system for safe construction was strengthened and licensing of engineers and Certifications of masons were introduced(v) Mass awareness on disaster preparedness was undertaken to prepare the community to face similar future eventualities

7 Photos of failure or damages of structure during earthquake

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

14

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

15

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

16

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

17

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

18

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

19

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

8 Results of Risk Management

2001 Gujarat Earthquake vs 2006 Gujarat Earthquake

After 2001 Earthquakes risk management techniques were adopted by people of Gujarat With the help of Knowledge Protection and Coping the damage caused by 2006 Earthquake reduced drastically as compared to 2001 Earthquake

9 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

20

Gujarat Earthquakes 2001 Earthquake 2006 Earthquake

Date 26-Jan-01 6-Apr-06

Location Gujarat Gujarat

Damage

20000 died No deaths

Around 166000 injured Around 40 people were injured

55 billion $ loss of assets

Around 1 million $ loss of assets

40000 homes destroyed

Around 50 homes were destroyed

Magnitude range(Richter Scale) 55 - 8 55 - 8

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

For the first time Bhuj earthquake showed in graphic details the vulnerability of typical Indian urban constructions As a result impact of this earthquake on the mindset of public as well as policy makers has been enormous Scenario in India with regard to seismic safety programmes is considerably different today than was the case prior to the Bhuj earthquake The paper discusses some of the significant post-Bhuj activities and also the constraints that limited the impact of this earthquake towards earthquake safety The 2001 Bhuj earthquake even though tragic will be a watershed event for seismic risk reduction in India Numerous new initiatives and activities have emerged in the last years that would not have been possible before the earthquake It is however important to ask the question as a consequence of these activities will we see much lower disaster if a similar earthquake were to strike the country say ten years down the line The answer to this question depends on whether the intentions and the plans can be successfully converted into actions at the ground level that is in terms of safer built environment It is important that the risk mitigation programmes be put on a stable growth track such that even when there are no strong champions to push the agenda of safety these programmes move forward due to their own momentum Earthquake is primarily an engineering problem and it requires an engineering solution through safer constructions It is seen that in areas where capacity development had taken place before the earthquake it was possible to leverage the situation arising out of the earthquake and establish strong activities On the other hand opportunity was lost on several fronts where prior spadework was not done Clearly the country needs to pursue the agenda of capacity building in an aggressive manner not only for initiating and executing the mitigation programmes now but also to ensure that any opportunity for betterment created by the next disaster can be fully exploited

References

21

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22

httpwwwniceeorgBhujphp

Research paper by Mr Alok Gupta

httpwwwgeerassociationorgGEER_Post20EQ20ReportsBhuj_2001india_photohtml

httpasc-indiaorglib20010126-kachchhhtm

httpenwikipediaorgwiki2001_Gujarat_earthquake

EERI Special earthquake Info - April 2001

22