Emergency aid, drinking water supply, reconstruction of houses

Emergency aid, drinking water supply, reconstruction of ... Image 1

Emergency aid, drinking water supply, reconstruction of houses

Gujarat, India

Project in numbers

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Project Summary

In January 2001 an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 hit the northwest of India. In the aftermath, three million people remained homeless. According to official government statistics, more than 330,000 houses were destroyed and over 750,000 heavily damaged. The catastrophe had enormous social and economic impact on the affected population.

Immediately after the disaster took place, an AMURT team arrived on the spot in order to assess the needs of the earthquake victims. Emergency aid was conducted by providing food and clean drinking water.

The Indian government promised to cover half of the reconstruction costs for the new houses. But this policy did not have the desired results, as many villages were allocated the subsidies directly and the funds were not used for reconstruction. The village authorities did not want relief organizations to build new earthquake-resistant houses. People without property were the biggest losers as a result of this policy because government subsidies for housing were only available to those who held a property certificate.

AMURT worked with two local well-established relief organizations, Nav Nirman Ahhiyan (KNNA) and INSERT FULL NAME SAATH in Khadir, the north Kutch region. The nomadic Vandhs tribe in Khadir had not been recognised as victims of the earthquake and were therefore still homeless. This part of the Kutch region, located within the salt deserts, is a very isolated area, and spread throughout this territory are 12 small villages with over 2,000 families.

The new houses that were built for the local inhabitants were earthquake resistant and environmentally friendly. In addition, AMURT called on the help and participation of the local communities in the planning and decision-making. Village committees were founded with representatives from the respective communities. AMURT closely cooperated with SAATH and KNNA. The people were trained to build their own homes using local resources. AMURT succeeded in ensuring that local participation was part of all aspects of project implementation.