Govt. looked the other way as Kutch builders ran amok

By Manas Dasgupta

BHUJ, FEB. 17. The Gujarat Government cannot escape at least part of the blame for the damage, destruction and loss of lives in the recent earthquake.

Though it was aware that the Kutch figured in the most sensitive seismic zone V, the Government paid no attention to the quality of construction materials and builders kept violating laws.

While the Home Minister, Mr. Haren Pandya, admitted that more than 80 per cent of the multistoreyed or even low-rise structures in Ahmedabad were ``illegal'', built in violation of one or the other of the building by-laws, in the Kutch district headquarter of Bhuj, almost all high-rise buildings were totally illegal.

Taking into account the composition of soil and its geographic location, buildings with only up to four floors are permitted in Bhuj, but in new township almost every building has six or seven floors. Many buildings stand testimony to the violation.

Municipal officials blame politicians and said the builders not only enjoyed the protection of some of the councillors but were also given the assurance that the constructions would be regularised.

The Bhujia hill on one side, the airport and air force colony on another and the army cantonment and BSF bases on the third side have stopped expansion of Bhuj. Its development is possible only on the western side where the Government has allocated hundreds of acres of land to educational institutions, besides keeping thousands of acres in the district reserved for forestry in lieu of the developmental projects the undertaking of which caused loss of forest land in other parts of the State.

Thousands of unauthorised slums dot the landscape of new Bhuj town encroached on by landless labourers and others migrating to the district headquarters and other urban centres. Whatever little remained was cornered by the builders causing a spurt in land prices, which was higher in Bhuj than even in Ahmedabad. The Government remained a mute spectator.

This situation forced the people to compromise with safety and the builders constructed multistoreyed complexes in gross violation of the laws. In old Bhuj, where the quake destruction was total and the loss of life heavier, the remnants of buildings show that over the years the houses were constructed with only clay and lime. The Industries Minister, Mr. Suresh Mehta, who hails from Kutch, admitted that use of clay and mud as the binding material caused widespread destruction in old Bhuj, Anjar, Bhachau and Rapar towns and hundreds of villages in the district.

Some persons at Sukhpar village have started rebuilding their houses in the same old fashion without waiting for government guidelines for quake-resistant constructions. However, the Government believes that the activity is an indication of a return to normality in the ravaged region.

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