However, officials in Gujarat, the worst-hit state by quake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter Scale, have questioned Fernandes' projected toll as too high to be believed. Even a spokesman for Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, said that it was too early to tell what the final toll might be. Home Minister of Gujarat, Haren Pandya, disputed the toll put forward by Fernandes and said the state government still estimated the toll at between 15,000 and 20,000. H.K. Dua, information adviser to Vajpayee, told an international news agency that the prime minister had clearly said there could be no proper estimate of the death toll right away. These are just guesses.
Bodies are under the rubble.
Certainly it is massive. Nobody disputes the 20,000 figure. According to many observers accurately estimating the death toll has pretty been difficult because communications in the region have been so badly disrupted. Meanwhile, After Vajpayee's Gujarat visit on Monday when he announced an immediate relief of Rs 500 crore, the authorities are now switching their attention to the tens of thousands of people made homeless as hopes fade of finding any more people buried alive. As the relief effort continued, criticism was also mounting that authorities have been slow to react and have not the learnt the lessons of previous natural disasters.