Gujarat Govt. has failed, says U.N. team

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, FEB. 1. Disaster Management team of the U.N., now in Ahmedabad, feels that there have been lapses on the part of the Gujarat Government in carrying out relief and rescue operations.

``There have been many instances of mismanagement at the official level. The general morale of those on the job is low. This when many of them involved in rescue and relief operations too have lost their near ones,'' one of the members told this correspondent over telephone.

The team members are, however, impressed with the ``excellent work'' being carried out by the Indian Army and the Air Force. As per the estimate of the U.N. team, the casualties could be between 70,000 and 1,00,000 with three times that number injured.

Mr. Madhukar Gupta, senior IAS officer, who is part of the Disaster Management team, said from Bhuj that the only option left with those engaged in removing the bodies was to burn them along with the debris.

``There is lot of stench emanating in the whole area. Perhaps it is time to think about burning the collapsed houses and buildings along with the bodies trapped inside,'' Mr. Gupta, who is also the facilitator for U.N. Special Initiatives for Rajasthan.

``However, the possibility of an epidemic is low as there is not much humidity in the area.''. Yet there was a serious water scarcity. ``People have not bathed for the past five days.''

On the collapsed structures, the U.N. members said, ``the buildings which were made of brick are not damaged''. Those made of stone collapsed under pressure, one of them noted. He said the influence of the builders' lobby in bypassing the construction laws was evident in the tragedy.

``It has not been the earthquake alone. Buildings falling like ninepins. We have to fix the responsibility. And the needle of suspicion points to the quality of the building material used,'' one of them who did not want to be named said. ``The builders' lobby was very strong all over India. Even the Army buildings had fallen. The fallen structures included the office of District Collector and the district hospital as well,it was pointed out.

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