Meeting Basic Needs

We are still feeding 6,000 people every day in our two relief camps in Gandhidham and Anjar. We provide food rations and other relief goods to another 2,000 people daily in other locations.

The Government of Gujarat has allocated us the 7th Sector of Gandhidham for relief work. AMURTEL volunteers have been going door-to-door in that sector to assess the needs of individual families and help meet their needs.

We have also been distributing relief goods to villages around Anjar and Gandhidham. We have distributed 16 truckloads of goods thus far. 

Disposing of Dead Bodies

We have buried or cremated seven hundred bodies so far. No one else wants to touch these decomposing bodies, neither the relatives, nor the Rapid Action Force, nor the military. So our volunteers go out with the military and drag the bodies out of the rubble. We take the Moslem dead to the burial ground and the Hindu dead to the cremation ground, and perform the last rites for everyone. We take the ornaments off the bodies and hand them over to the relatives. Sometimes the relatives themselves call us and ask us to take care of their dead.

Current Needs

The following items are required, but only if they can be sent immediately: plastic tarpaulin sheets with eyelets, nylon cords & milk powder:

DO NOT SEND CLOTHES OR MEDICINE. Many relief organizations have dumped a lot of clothes in Kutch. Local people refuse them, and leave them lying beside the roads. People in Kutch (Gujarat) are used to high standards and have a strong sense of dignity. They do not want to wear second hand clothes (especially clothes that are culturally inappropriate).

We are getting a lot of relief items from other private organizations in India or purchasing them locally. There has been tremendous support for the quake survivors from people throughout India.

Short Term Plan

We will continue with our current relief efforts for as long as required, assessing the situation on a week-by-week basis.

Long-term plan

The primary needs of the people in Kutch is housing. AMURT and AMURTEL will assess the possibility of adopting a village and reconstructing the houses there. This will require a large amount of money. The living standards are high in Gujarat (compared to other parts of India). A single house will cost around $1500 to build.