With the death toll in the killer quake having crossed 15,000 and expected to rise further as rescue workers dug out more bodies from the mountains of rubble that were till Friday thriving towns and villages, the Gujarat government Sunday was trying to come to grips with the enormity of loss and liabilities brought upon by the worst-ever natural disaster in the state, according to sources in the state secretariat. Sources at the Kutch administrative office told India Abroad News Service on telephone that thousands of people were still buried under the debris and most hospitals in the worst-hit areas were overflowing with the injured people besides the dead.
Kutch looks like a war zone.
Not just the high-rises in Bhuj have been reduced to rubble but many villages have virtually disappeared from the face of the earth. District administrators returning from a survey of Bhuj, Anjar, Madhapur, Bhachau and other towns in Kutch as well as Morvi and Malya in Rajkot, Saurashtra and South and north Gujarat said the toll could be much higher. Prime Minster Atal Behari Vajpayee, along with senior officials, is expected to tour the worst-hit areas Monday. Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, who discussed relief operations with Defence Minister George Fernandes, quoted army personnel as saying the number of injured could be around 50,000 as many worst-affected villages were yet to be contacted. Fernandes told the media at Bhuj that more than 10,000 people might have perished in Kutch alone.