GUJARAT EARTHQUAKE... CHRONOLOGY


January, 26th Monday
Earthquake hits Kutchchh district of Gujarat…The first flight of the Indian air force with a team of 10 doctors and other relief material for Bhuj supported with others for relief operations.

January, 29th
w The IAF Vadodara has operated 58 sorties with 1 lakh km of load which includes food, clothes, tents, blood pouches, medicines etc and transported 378 passengers, mostly medicos for the relief work.
w Center issues a blank cheque to Gujarat for relief.
w BSF battalions deployed for rescue and relief work
w Cellforce airlifts equipments to restore communications:
w National dairy development board start supply of milk powder, liquid milk and drinking water.
w Zydus cadila sets up 24-hour medicine control room at its corporate headquarters in Ahmedabad.
w Jet airways flies relief materials free of charge.
w Indian naval ships turn into hospitals.
w Federation of medical and sales representatives called upon its 19 state and 280 district units to collect and rush medicines for the earthquake relief victims.
w Ham radio operators in Banagalore set up three ham stations to get information on their kith and kin in the earthquake struck areas.
w Swiss rescue team joins hands with the raff to bring out dead bodies from the ill-fated mansi complex in Ahmedabad.

January 31st
w A group of 13 Swiss experts with three sniffer dogs called off their search and rescue operations.
w   VSNL started providing free out going calls, including STD and ISD facility.
w   E-comm opportunities Pvt Ltd, an internet service provider has set up a special communication center with five telephone lines.
w   Railways to run special trains from Ahmedabad and Gandhidham.
w   NGO’s work for bringing relief to the victims: a group of 200 NGO’s in the state formed an umbrella organization named "citizen’s initiative to support abhiyan network" to channelise the resources through the Kutchchh Navnirman Abhiyan, an conglomeration of 14 NGO’s working in Kutchchh.
w Gujarat government spells out requirements as tent’s, shelter material, debris clearing and cutting equipment, mobile hospitals with portable x-ray units, food and water packets, blankets and clothing, medicines including large amount of bleaching powder to prevent any outbreak of disease.
w Centre devises guidelines to expedite relief work

February 1st
w 45 illiterate workers from U.P, Bihar and West Bengal armed with gas cutters and hacksaws ripped open four stories in just one night at Mansi Apartments.
w Contributions from many national and international organizations like Nasscom, Hewlett Packard, Samsung Electronics Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Central Bank of India, ESSAR, Royal Dutch Shell Company, Coca-Cola India, Dabhol Power Company, Maruti Udyog, Ranbaxy, Cadila, State Bank of Saurashtra, Shri Baghwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahitya Samiti - Jaipur, K.P.Sanghvi Trust etc

February 2nd
w Many other organizations and state governments add their contributions for relief cause.
w Indian govt. waives the tatkal fee for consular services for NRIs from Gujarat who wish tovisit their families in the affected areas.
w The union HRD ministry provides Rs.150 crores for the Gujarat Educational Reconstruction Plan.
w The government announced supplies of free fuel to foreign aircraft coming with relief material and personnel and provides single point clearance.
w The coolies at Ahmedabad Kalupur railway station started running a free kitchen.

February 3rd
w By far the largest relief operations undertaken by air force in its 68 year long history IAF had flown over 550 sorties in the last eight days. The army had deployed 22,500 soldiers in over 25 quake affected places in Gujarat.
w At a ceremony near Moscow the deputy minister for emergency and disaster management decorated all the Russian rescuers for digging out 17 survivors from the debris of the town Bachau, the largest number saved by foreign teams.

February 5th
w IBM, the multinational conglomerate offers setting up its support systems for commodity tracing in relief supplies
w Special service Beareau save seventy people from the debris in ten days.
w Bharath Sanchar Nigam Ltd restore telecommunication lines in 10 Talukas of the Kutchchh district. More than 80 STD/PCO’s providing free service to the public had been opened.

February 6th
w Indian airlines had operated additional flights to Gujarat from January 26 to transport volunteers, relatives and injured victims and also transporting relief materials free of cost. It has operated 88 flights to the cities of Gujarat, 47 additionally planned. They have airlifted 391 tonnes of relief supplies.

February 7th
w Navsarjan -earthquake home loser’s association of Ahmedabad formed.
w Banks in the Kutch area started opening up and introduced mobile banking services.
w The-state government started channelising its cash dole scheme through the banking sector.

February 8th
w World food program of United Nations, launched a four month operation of feeding 300,000 quake victims of Gujarat by pledging $4 million. The beneficiaries will be mostly of pregnant women, nursing mothers and children.
w IFFCO, Kalol unit opens a mobile equipment station to provide required tools and equipments.

February 9th
w FICCI - Care Gujarat rehabilitation project for building 10,000 houses and social infrastructure like schools, tube wells, hospitals, post offices and Panchayat offices in the region announced.

February 12th
w Ananda Marga universal relief team provided rescue and relief operations by getting together a veritable army of 125 monks, 75 nuns and 200 volunteers. Amrut also provided trauma counseling and other confidence building measures.
w A team of Christian children’s fund from USA decided to set up child friendly spaces in the villages to help them throw out their anger in a constructive way.

February 13th
w In co-ordination with the industries commisionerates, Gandhinagar and the union ministry of external affairs, the customs and central excise commisionerates sent relief material for the victims.

February 15th
w The Asian development bank enhanced its loan amount for quake mitigation from $300 million to $500 million.

. . . reconstruction activities started from 1st March, 2001

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