MUMBAI, Sept 28: Five years after Latur and Osmanabad districts in the Marathwada region were rocked by worst ever earthquake, the two districts are now on the road to total recovery owing to timely implementation of the World Bank-aided rehabilitation programme.The September 30, 1993 calamity of unprecedented proportions had left 8,000 villagers dead, 16,000 injured and fully damaged hundreds of houses in 52 villages on the two districts.``Despite severe constraints and hurdles, we have been able to relocate all the 52 devastated villages on new locations by constructing a record number of 27,133 new houses against the target of 27,736, seismic strengthening of 1.80 lakh houses out of 1.90 lakh and completed construction of all the 475 model buildings in the districts,'' Special Commissioner Johny Joseph told The Indian Express.Joseph, who has been associated with the project ever since the World Bank agreed to finance the Maharashtra Emergency Earthquake Rehabilitation Programme (MEERP), saidagainst the total project outlay of Rs 1,202 crore, the cumulative expenditure on the project so far is Rs 1185.82 crore. ``We are sure we will complete the entire project much before the deadline of December 31, 1998, set by the World Bank,'' he added.Besides the housing component, which was on the top priority of the MEERP, development of infrastructure, economic, social and community rehabilitation and providing technical assistance were also on the agenda of government.On the infrastructure front, Joseph said all the 18 major bridges in Latur and Osmanabad districts have been strengthened as per the specifications provided by the World Bank, work on 167 public buildings and 3,712 school buildings has been completed, 347 km access roads have been strengthened, entire work on 160 missing culverts has been done and permanent water supply covering all the relocated villages has been commissioned.``We have spent Rs 269.60 crore on infrastructure, Rs 13.11 crore on economic rehabilitation, Rs 36.77crore on social rehabilitation, Rs 29.35 crore on community rehabilitation and Rs 68.49 crore on technical assistance,'' Joseph added.He said, for effective implementation of the plan of such a high magnitude, an inter-departmental central implementation group was constituted at the apex level to take policy decisions, while a project management unit comprising administrators and engineers to implement the project within a time frame of four years was set up.``While implementing the plan, we successfully designed seismically resistant houses designed by an international seismic consultant and the Indian Institute of Technology. Simultaneously, we encouraged use of seismic features in repairs, strengthening and retrofitting of old houses. The project management unit in association with IIT organised a training programme to propagate the use of new technology,'' he added.On the constraints, Joseph said a major share of problems arose from populist expectations. There was a clamour for more and morebeneficiaries to be included in the programme. A number of villages were keen on relocation with did not fit in the implementation plan, while many other villages demanded re-survey of the damages after a period of more than two years, which was technically unfeasible. It necessitated continuous negotiation with the communities to tackle the problems arising out of the populist expectations.Joseph said, from the earthquake tragedy, the state government has learnt a series of lessons. ``Following the calamity, we have chalked out a comprehensive Multi-Hazard Disaster Management Plan for the entire state. The plan is being aided by the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme,'' he added.Joseph said, the state government has taken a policy decision to operationalise the Multi-Hazard Disaster Management Plan, which envisages establishment of an ultra modern communication network, setting up of emergency operation centre at Mantralaya, setting up of district control room at all the districtheadquarters, creation of disaster management information system, training programme and community vulnerability programmes.Replying to a question, Johny Joseph said the World Bank has expressed satisfaction over the time bound completion of the programme. In fact impressed by our performance, World Bank task leader Jelena Pantelic has asked us to make a detailed presentation before a wider audience of the bank officials and other international experts. ``Apparently, the World Bank was impressed by the widespread application of seismic technology in rural area, the preparation and implementation of disaster management plans, the first organised effort of its kind in India, good financial management and accelerated credit disbursement,'' he added.
