Aftershocks felt in quake-hit Bhuj area of India

A series of aftershocks measuring between 3.3 to 4.7 on the Richter scale hit the area throughout Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Officials of the Indian Meteorological Department in New Delhi said 110 aftershocks measuring more than three on the Richter scale have been recorded in the area since the quake hit on January 26. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee hinted at new taxes to meet the cost of relief and rehabilitation work in India's earthquake-hit state of Gujarat.

The quake, which hit the state Friday with an intensity of 7.9 on the Richter scale, claimed up to 100,000 lives, according to Defence Minister George Fernandes. Fernandes said the number of injured was as high as 200,000. Fernandes' figures would make it the worst quake in Indian history. Some 20,000 people were reported killed in a quake in Himachal Pradesh state in 1905 and up to 30,000 in another in the Latur and Osmananabad districts of Maharashtra in 1993. But the state government said the toll was between 15,000 and 20,000 lives.

The Star News television channel quoted an International Red Cross representative as saying that it could be about 50,000. The quake also rendered some 500,000 people homeless. Vajpayee said Tuesday in the northern city of Lucknow that the government was considering imposition of a "Gujarat surcharge" in the federal budget for fiscal 2001-2002 which is to be presented in parliament next month. According to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Gujarat's economy suffered damage estimated at 250 billion rupees (5 billlion dollars) due to the earthquake.

Gujarat authorities were getting ready to dispose of thousands of human and animal corpses to ward off epidemics. The heavy stench of rotting human and animal bodies prevailed in the worst-hit Kutch district. A United News of India report said while thousands of bodies have already been cremated, many more lie under rubble and could decompose, triggering epidemics.

Reports said the relief workers are finding it tough to steer cranes and other heavy equipment through narrow lanes of the worst-hit Bhuj town for removing the debris, mostly heavy limestone rocks of which most of the buildings in the area were constructed. Doctors said, besides illnesses, many quake victims, particularly children, also developed psychiatric problems and needed care. Press reports said relief and rescue teams were yet to reach remote hamlets and small towns and attention was being paid to places that could be easily reached.

Officials said this was because destruction of roads had rendered many of these areas inaccessible and it was nearly impossible to take heavy earth-moving equipment there. Indian army troopers were using explosives to pull down precariously perched highrise buildings in many areas so that they did not collapse and cause further damage.

(la/news.ch)