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Armed forces put aside personal tragedy to pitch in

Not withstanding their personal bereavement in the killer earthquake of January 26, personnel of the armed forces, para-military forces and police are trying their best to reach relief to the people of the Kutch district.

"The police infrastructure is virtually reduced to dust and our personnel are on the roads after their residential complexes were completely demolished. The headquarters is also considerably damaged," Deputy Inspector General, Border Range, Kutch, A K Singh told PTI on Monday.

Singh, who is operating from a make-shift office himself, said, "Two police personnel perished in the devastating earthquake while several have suffered injuries. But we are attending to rescue and relief operation.

"Our prime concern is to save people alive, trapped under the debris of collapsed buildings," he added.

Pointing to his severely damaged office building, Deputy Collector R J Palaria admitted that he had not dared to even venture into it.

"I am spending nights in my car as my residential quarters has been reduced to rubble. My office too is under a tree with only one table and a few chairs," he said.

Kutch District Collector Kamal Dayari's office resembles the ruins of an old destroyed monument. Ever since the quake, he has been, like Palaria, operating from the collectorate's open space.

The Army, IAF and BSF establishments and the Bhuj airport's runway have suffered heavy damage, yet havaldar Puran Singh is duty-bound at the Army's make-shift hospital attending to the quake victims.

Major Laxmi Nalinvelli, who is attending to a steady stream of patients since last Friday, says, "By God's grace, our hospital is better equipped. It is our prime concern to extend help to the injured."

The collapse of IAF's base establishment in Bhuj, in which several of its personnel and their families perished, has not deterred the armed force from airlifting the seriously injured to hospitals in Pune, Jamnagar and Bombay.

Despite all the help, the armed forces and security personnel have also been bearing the emotional outbursts of the locals.

Said Nanjibhai Jhamar, "Our seven-storey Gokul Apartments has been reduced to rubble with more than 150 feared dead. It has been over four days, but the administration is yet to look our way."

He said the district administration could very well ask for assistance from other parts of Gujarat but they are not even ready to extend a helping hand.

"Only when Prime Minister Vajpayee decides to visit this graveyard, does the administration think of sending rescue teams," Ranjibhai Devda, a passer-by said.

PTI

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