Clinton Mobbed Touring India's Earthquake Damage

By Thakor Patel and Rezaul H. Laskar

BHUJ, Gujarat, India, April 5, 2001 (ENS) - Former U.S. president Bill Clinton capped a whistlestop tour of the areas worst affected by the January earthquake in Gujarat saying India and the United States should "work as partners till the villages are rebuilt and the people have work."

"I am very happy to see the wonderful work done by the people, including the government and the voluntary agencies. It is an honor to be here with 40 members of the American India Foundation," he said while speaking to reporters amidst the rubble of the Jubilee Hospital here. The hospital, which was built in 1860, was totally destroyed in the January 26 quake, killing 180 patients.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton arrives in New Delhi, India (Photos courtesy India Abroad)

"I have come here after this long and painful period of rehabilitation to see what we can do," Clinton said. There is an immediate need, he said, to rebuild hospitals, schools, and houses and provide jobs and clean drinking water.

"We have collected several million dollars and have now come here to see how best we can help," Clinton said, adding, "I have never seen a disaster of such magnitude."

Clinton arrived in Bhuj Wednesday morning from New Delhi where he touched down Tuesday night from Washington. Wearing a dark gray shirt and khaki trousers, he walked through the rubble still strewn about the town. He observed very intensely as local people showed him the debris and explained what existed there before the quake struck on January 26.

Clinton has come at the head of a delegation of the American India Foundation (AIF), which has pledged to raise at least $50 million and adopt 100 villages for reconstruction. The quake, measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, killed about 25,000 people and left tens of thousands injured and homeless.

Clinton greets crowds in India.

There were several poignant moments during the visit. In the nearby town of Anjar, the Impact India Foundation, which is running a hospital train, presented a patchwork quilt made by some of the earthquake affected children.

Accompanied by the parents of Nemita Thakkar, a 12 year old schoolgirl who died in the quake, a somber looking Clinton paid homage to the dead of Anjar as he laid a wreath at the memorial to the 100-odd children who had died along with Nemita.

Victim of the Gujurat quake (Photo courtesy T.C. Malhotra)

Two children, Netal Thakkar and Nandish Godhrani, who survived the harrowing incident, also accompanied Clinton. They had both remained under the debris for six hours before being pulled out by rescuers.

Referring to his last trip to India, an official visit as President, Clinton said, "When I came last year, I made up my mind to come back soon. But I didn't know I would come back so soon and under these circumstances," he said.

"We can be good partners so that until all the villages are rebuilt, the people have work and houses to live in and children have schools to go to," he said.

"It's a gigantic task to rebuild. There is no account of those who lost their lives. But we need to do a lot for those who survived. The quake has given birth to a new organization in the U.S. called the American India Foundation which will work hard to provide all possible help," he said.

Wherever Clinton went, it was evident that people looked on him as a messiah who would do something for them. At the same time, the visit served to focus on the lack of relief work in the aftermath of the quake. In most areas, the rubble has yet to be cleared, and rehabilitation work has not begun.

In Anjar, the government began a voluntary labor program last Tuesday but the volunteers who turned up did not have anyone to guide them.

Clinton contemplates the earthquake damage.

Showing the spontaneity that he is known for, Clinton made an impromptu halt at Ratnal on the way back from Anjar to Bhuj. He had been told about a 70 year old woman, Ratibehn Rawa, whose house had been destroyed in the quake. Clinton stopped at Rawa's temporary hut, walked in and spent a few minutes chatting with her through an interpreter.

Clinton's last engagement in Bhuj was a trip to the Red Cross hospital, where he spent 40 minutes visiting the operation theater, the intensive care unit and the maternity ward, where an infant was born half an hour before his arrival.

The 340 bed hospital, set up soon after the quake, still functions out of tents. The Red Cross is now planning to wind up its operations and hand over the hospital to the government by April 15.

{Published in cooperation with India Abroad News Service.}