Contact Person:
In New Dehli: Geetanjali Chopra (91-11)461-7241,
E-mail: gchopra@worldbank.org
In Washington: Ricardo Castro: (202) 458-5157
E-mail: Rcastro3@worldbank.org
NEW DEHLI, March 22, 2001---The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have estimated that improved reconstruction in the Indian state of Gujarat devastated by the January 26, 2001 earthquake, will cost about Rs 10,600 crore (US$2.3 billion).
The earthquake caused massive loss of life and injury, leaving over 20,000 persons dead and 167,000 injured. It left nearly a million families homeless, and destroyed much of the area's social infrastructure: from schools and village health clinics, to water supply systems, communications and power. The Kutch district of Gujarat is the worst affected; in many villages and several towns the destruction was nearly total.
In their joint Gujarat Earthquake Recovery Program Assessment Report presented to the governments of Gujarat and India, the two multilateral banks have put the total loss of assets, including private assets, at Rs 9,900 crore (US$2.1 billion). The bulk of these losses are in the housing sector (Rs 5,200 crore /US$1.1 billion).
Among the other severely affected sectors are education, health, rural water supply, irrigation, transport, and public buildings and monuments. The impact on Gujarat's fiscal deficit is expected to be Rs 10,100 crore (US$2.2 billion) over three years.
The report represents the best assessment possible as of end-February 2001. It is based on field visits by a joint World Bank-ADB team to the affected areas in February. As a more detailed review of the damage is undertaken by the Government of Gujarat, understanding and data will be updated and made available.
The joint Assessment Report outlines immediate needs, damage assessments, and a medium-term recovery strategy for each sector. International experience from other disaster-hit areas suggests that the recovery program be based on the following principles:
· Revival of the economy;
· Empowering individuals and communities;
· Affordability, private sector participation, and equity;
· Decentralization; and,
· Communication and transparency.
"These core principles should be integrated into the recovery strategy and are key to the success, acceptability, and sustainability of the process," say Keith Oblitas and Robert Maurer, co-leaders of the World Bank's assessment team to Gujarat.
In particular, the new report suggests that an approach based on consultation with and participation by the affected communities must be at the heart of the recovery program, including, as far as possible, rebuilding of their own houses by individuals in their original location.
"While the reconstruction of physical assets is crucial, the Bank's primary objective is to help restore normalcy to the nearly one million families who have lost their homes and, in many cases, their loved ones and livelihoods as well. This is an unprecedented challenge, but over the past years of drought and hardship, the people of Kutch have demonstrated remarkable resilience and strength ," say Oblitas and Maurer.
The report identifies the following immediate needs: provision of temporary shelter before the onset of monsoon in July; restoration of public services such as hospitals, schools, water supply, power, communications, municipal and environmental infrastructure, and state administration; and, securing income earning opportunities for vulnerable people in the affected areas.
The World Bank, ADB and other donors are coordinating their support with the Government of Gujarat to ensure that all sectors are adequately addressed. |
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