But the difference between Kobe and Kutch is in communication and attitude. There a nation decisively pulled together for speedy, common good. Here state machinery is often in the way. Now, one lakh have bare shelter. When in early February Chief Coordinator for Earthquake Relief L. Mansingh ordered the PWD to clear debris in Bhuj, he was told the order would have to come from Gandhinagar, the state capital.
Rehabilitation is yet to touch tens of thousand of people.
A skewed policy stating that only villages that have suffered over 70 per cent damage can receive NGO help has led to quibbling, amid rubble, of which village has suffered how much damage in hasty, sometimes faulty surveys. So it is good that some NGOs and angels, both corporate and individual, are coming through. If it weren't for them, and grit the state's common folk could take a patent out for, Gujarat would still be in stasis. Sure, time heals. If the Government reeled in some slack, the healing would get a headstart.