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More tremors have survivors in a panic

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

Thousands of people hit by the earthquake in the hills Uttar Pradesh hills are yet to recover from the first quake that left over a 100 dead and nearly 400 injured. But repeated tremors, including one of a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale on Tuesday night, has caused among the survivors.

Residents of Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri and Pauri Garhwal, which were worst affected by the earthquake, are reportedly not venturing into their houses.

"Considering that over two dozen after-shocks have been fell after the initial massive one on Sunday-Monday night, we'd rather sleep in the open or under a canvas or tin shed. We'd rather brave the chill rather than risk our lives inside our houses," said Om Prakash, a Chamoli shopkeeper.

District officials from Chamoli and Rudraprayag, from where 61 and 34 bodies respectively have been recovered so far, do not rule out the possibility of the toll rising higher in the next 48 hours.

"Since some of our teams have been sent out to far-flung areas and have to make it back on foot, it will take time before we know the situation," said Rudraprayag district magistrate Dharam Singh. While Chamoli Superintendent of Police Sridhar Pathak agrees the toll could go up, he feels the rise could be marginal.

According to the state chief secretary, "Reports reaching the state headquarters so far have confirmed the recovery of 101 bodies, and 362 persons injured. Of these, nearly 75 still remain hospitalised."

The actual toll seems lower than what one would expect going by number of collapsed houses -- 3,000. And over 10,000 were partially damaged. Over 17,000 have been officially stated as being affected by the quake.

Policemen and officers performed the last rites of most victims as most of them were from families that were wiped out, reports said.

Panic still prevails in the old Tehri town and a neighbouring village, where a number of houses collapsed, leaving six dead and nearly 60 injured. There is more fear about what will happen if the giant Tehri hydro-electric project, now under construction, is damaged.

Restaurant-owner Sukhbir Singh feels the government must review the project on the Bhagirathi river, but experts from the Geological Survey of India rule out the slightest threat to the dam, touted as India's second largest after Bhakra-Nangal.

"Unnecessary alarm is spread about the dam," says Ravi Prakash, the Lucknow-based GSI deputy director general.

"The dam is designed to withstand earthquakes up to a magnitude of 8 on the Richter scale, which will have to be at least 30 times stronger than the Chamoli quake, which measured 6.8," he said.

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