Extracted from a letter from the Narmada
Bachao Andolan received on 5th March, notes what they plan to do
and the help that they require for their work.
"...We (NBA and it support
groups and centers) plan to continue to work on a long term basis
in the earthquake affected area.
Starting a Health Centre
In a village called Balasar which is very remote and
there is no hospital or health centre in 50 villages around it in
- an area upto 40 sq kms. The villagers of Balasar are to donate
land for the centre and two doctors have volunteered to stay
there for three months. We need a lady doctor -a gynecologist if
possible. Even if she could come for a week to ten days it will
be good. If male doctors are willing to come and give a week or
ten days, it is necessary. Later more doctors will take over on a
rotation basis till the health center is recognised by the
Government and a permenant posting of doctors will be done either
by the Government or through some voluntary organisation. The two
doctors who have volunteered are to camp there from next week and
administer to the surrounding 50 villages. One of them is an
orthopedic surgeon. As not a single house is standing in Balasar,
they will start work in a tent and later some permanent
earthquake resistant structure will be built.
Reconstructing the talabs
The other work to start is desilting of the village
pond by three feet so the rain water storage will be enough to
last for a year. There are also breaches in ponds and lakes in
the area due to earthquake and we plan to undertake a survey of
the extent of damage and estimate of costs. These structures have
to be repaired before monsoon otherwise there will be break of
such structures and flooding and further damages. We need a
volunteer with some technical know how to help in this exercise
also.
Training of masons in
earthquake resistant housing
The third work is training of masons of that area in
rebuilding earthquake resistant houses with use of local material
and incorporating their traditional know how with some
unconventional changes where ever required.
Rebuilding schools
Rebuilding schools will be the fourth in the line. All
the school buildings in the entire area are broken."
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