Earthquake Rehabilitation: A 24 Point Strategy for Shelter and Settlements Development
Excerpts of an open letter by Ar. Kirtee Shah, Ahmedabad India to the government official
What I write here is based on 30 years of experience, both urban and rural, in disaster rehabilitation – flood, industrial and earthquake — by ASAG, a non-profit group run by concerned professionals with expertise in design, planning, community organization, construction management, poverty alleviation, micro-credit, policy advocacy and NGO networking. Over the years, ASAG has played a lead role in rehabilitation of over 30 disaster-hit villages (over 10,000 houses) in Gujarat. Its major urban involvement project was the Integrated Urban Development Project designed to rehabilitate 2250 families at Vasna, Ahmedabad following heavy floods in the river Sabarmati in 1974. The most relevant experience, in context of the recent disaster, is ASAG’s work following earthquake in Latur in Maharashtra in 1993. Whereas I assisted the World Bank in design and implementation of the Mahrashtra Emergency Earthquake Rehabilitation Project (MEERP) under which 52 villages were relocated and 40,000 new houses were constructed, ASAG colleagues, worked on damage assessment, community education, technical assistance for repair and retrofitting, training and disaster preparedness. This letter is a modest attempt to share our learning from these experiences.
This letter also reflects views and orientation of India Habitat Forum, with over 50 NGO, professional and academic members, working in different parts of the country. In writing this I have also drawn from experiences of Habitat International Coalition (HIC), with over 350 members active in related fields in the 80 countries of the world. This also reflects preliminary unstructured discussions with a few victims besides agencies and individuals engaged in relief work.
What I write here is based on 30 years of experience, both urban and rural, in disaster rehabilitation – flood, industrial and earthquake — by ASAG, a non-profit group run by concerned professionals with expertise in design, planning, community organization, construction management, poverty alleviation, micro-credit, policy advocacy and NGO networking. Over the years, ASAG has played a lead role in rehabilitation of over 30 disaster-hit villages (over 10,000 houses) in Gujarat. Its major urban involvement project was the Integrated Urban Development Project designed to rehabilitate 2250 families at Vasna, Ahmedabad following heavy floods in the river Sabarmati in 1974. The most relevant experience, in context of the recent disaster, is ASAG’s work following earthquake in Latur in Maharashtra in 1993. Whereas I assisted the World Bank in design and implementation of the Mahrashtra Emergency Earthquake Rehabilitation Project (MEERP) under which 52 villages were relocated and 40,000 new houses were constructed, ASAG colleagues, worked on damage assessment, community education, technical assistance for repair and retrofitting, training and disaster preparedness. This letter is a modest attempt to share our learning from these experiences.
This letter also reflects views and orientation of India Habitat Forum, with over 50 NGO, professional and academic members, working in different parts of the country. In writing this I have also drawn from experiences of Habitat International Coalition (HIC), with over 350 members active in related fields in the 80 countries of the world. This also reflects preliminary unstructured discussions with a few victims besides agencies and individuals engaged in relief work.
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