Index of:
Previous Issues
Current Stories
Got News

India Earthquake Hits Home

Tents, blankets and medical equipment are pouring into India as hopes for pulling more survivors from the wreckage of a massive earthquake dwindle to near zero and rescuers turn their attention to treating the survivors.

"We felt that NJIT would be a good place to organize a relief fund and clothes drive," said Maulik Mehtha, a member of the NJIT Association of Indian Students (AIS) which is organizing the effort through the International Swaminarayan Satsang Organization (ISSO). "We are supporting the victims by providing canned goods, blankets, medicine and much needed funds."

Officials have counted more than 6,400 bodies so far and estimate the final death toll could rise to 20,000 or more. India's defense minister estimated 100,000 might have died, with twice as many injured.

The Red Cross launched a massive relief operation Tuesday, Jan. 30, to towns devastated by the quake and appealed for $16 million in emergency aid. Blankets were a priority, with nighttime temperatures in the quake zone near freezing.

The NIT effort has already raised some $700 and hopes to have $1,000 by the end of the week. NJIT has an Indian population of about 550 students up to 30 of whom reside near Anjar, the earthquake’s epicenter, said Jigen Shah, AIS president.

"We just want to help," he said. "It happened in India, but that doesn’t matter. They’re all human beings."

In a rare gesture of cooperation between fierce rivals, a Pakistani plane landed near the quake's epicenter Tuesday, Jan. 30, with relief, including 200 tents and 2,500 blankets.

The 7.9 magnitude earthquake flattened two towns, Jan. 26, in India's western Gujarat state. Government officials have counted 6,444 dead and 16,557 injured, but many bodies remain trapped in the ruins of collapsed buildings.

In the highest estimate from an Indian official, Defense Minister George Fernandes said Tuesday, Jan. 30, that the death toll could go as high as 100,000, citing the high populations of the two main cities destroyed -- Bhuj, with 150,000 inhabitants, and Anjar, with 80,000 people.

"This is my personal assessment,'' said Fernandes, acknowledging the difficulty of making accurate assessments. "I have been to those areas and I have seen it myself.''

In Ahmedabad (news - web sites), Gujarat's commercial center, an international aid worker said the estimate could be correct.

"I really think one lakh is possible," said Martin Kelsey, India program director for Save the Children, using the Indian term for 100,000. "This is one of the severest earthquakes in history. It is absolutely devastating, as if villages had been hit by an atomic bomb. Village after village has been razed to the ground.''

The NJIT funds, medical supplies and clothes collected will be sent to Ahmedabad, India, through ISSO NJ, where they will be distributed wherever it is needed the most.

Donations, such as medical supplies, canned food, dried food and clothing can be dropped off in the Hazell Center, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

back to top| Home