REPORT ON

EARTHQUAKES
CASE STUDY: BHUJ
EARTHQUAKE 2001

Submitted by:

SAMRIDHI CHAURASIA
121110205
B. Plan. 6th sem

Introduction
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the
result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that
creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic
activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes
experienced over a period of time.
Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismometers.
The moment magnitude is the most common scale on which
earthquakes larger than approximately 5 are reported for the entire
globe. The more numerous earthquakes smaller than magnitude 5
reported by national seismological observatories are measured mostly
on the local magnitude scale, also referred to as the Richter magnitude
scale. These two scales are numerically similar over their range of
validity. Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are mostly almost
imperceptible or weak and magnitude 7 and over potentially cause
serious damage over larger areas, depending on their depth. The
largest earthquakes in historic times have been of magnitude slightly
over 9, although there is no limit to the possible magnitude. The most
recent large earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or larger was a 9.0
magnitude earthquake in Japan in 2011 (as of March 2014), and it was
the largest Japanese earthquake since records began. Intensity of
shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale. The shallower an
earthquake, the more damage to structures it causes, all else being
equal.[1]
At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking
and sometimes displacement of the ground. When the epicenter of a
large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced
sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes can also
trigger landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity.
In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any
seismic event whether natural or caused by humans that

generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of

geological faults, but also by other events such as volcanic activity,
landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear tests. An earthquake's point of
initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The epicenter is the
point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.
Types of earthquakes:

Aftershock
Blind thrust earthquake
Deep-focus earthquake
Doublet earthquake
Earthquake swarm
Foreshock
Harmonic tremor
Induced seismicity
Interplate earthquake
Intraplate earthquake
Megathrust earthquake
Remotely triggered earthquakes
Slow earthquake
Submarine earthquake
Supershear earthquake
Tsunami earthquake
Volcano tectonic earthquake

Effects of earthquake
The effects of earthquakes include, but are not limited to, the
following:

Shaking and ground rupture

Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by

earthquakes, principally resulting in more or less severe damage to
buildings and other rigid structures. The severity of the local effects
depends on the complex combination of the earthquake magnitude, the
distance from the epicenter, and the local geological and
geomorphological conditions, which may amplify or reduce wave
propagation. The ground-shaking is measured by ground acceleration.

Specific local geological, geomorphological, and geostructural

features can induce high levels of shaking on the ground surface even
from low-intensity earthquakes. This effect is called site or local
amplification. It is principally due to the transfer of the seismic motion
from hard deep soils to soft superficial soils and to effects of seismic
energy focalization owing to typical geometrical setting of the
deposits.
Ground rupture is a visible breaking and displacement of the Earth's
surface along the trace of the fault, which may be of the order of
several metres in the case of major earthquakes. Ground rupture is a
major risk for large engineering structures such as dams, bridges
and nuclear power stations and requires careful mapping of existing
faults to identify any which are likely to break the ground surface
within the life of the structure.

Landslides and avalanches

Landslides became a symbol of the devastation the 2001 El Salvador

earthquakes left, killing hundreds in its wake.
Earthquakes, along with severe storms, volcanic activity, coastal wave
attack, and wildfires, can produce slope instability leading to
landslides, a major geological hazard. Landslide danger may persist
while emergency personnel are attempting rescue.

Fires

Earthquakes can cause fires by damaging electrical power or gas lines.

In the event of water mains rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may
also become difficult to stop the spread of a fire once it has started.
For example, more deaths in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake were
caused by fire than by the earthquake itself.

Soil liquefaction

Soil liquefaction occurs when, because of the shaking, watersaturated granular material (such as sand) temporarily loses its
strength and transforms from a solid to a liquid. Soil liquefaction may
cause rigid structures, like buildings and bridges, to tilt or sink into the
liquefied deposits. For example, in the 1964 Alaska earthquake, soil
liquefaction caused many buildings to sink into the ground, eventually
collapsing upon themselves.

Tsunami

The tsunami of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

A large ferry boat rests inland amidst destroyed houses after a
9.0earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Japan in March 2011.
Tsunamis are long-wavelength, long-period sea waves produced by the
sudden or abrupt movement of large volumes of water. In the open
ocean the distance between wave crests can surpass 100 kilometers
(62 mi), and the wave periods can vary from five minutes to one hour.
Such tsunamis travel 600-800 kilometers per hour (373497 miles per
hour), depending on water depth. Large waves produced by an
earthquake or a submarine landslide can overrun nearby coastal areas
in a matter of minutes. Tsunamis can also travel thousands of
kilometers across open ocean and wreak destruction on far shores
hours after the earthquake that generated them

Ordinarily, subduction earthquakes under magnitude 7.5 on the

Richter scale do not cause tsunamis, although some instances of this
have been recorded. Most destructive tsunamis are caused by
earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or more.

Floods

A flood is an overflow of any amount of water that reaches

land. Floods occur usually when the volume of water within a body of
water, such as a river or lake, exceeds the total capacity of the
formation, and as a result some of the water flows or sits outside of the
normal perimeter of the body. However, floods may be secondary
effects of earthquakes, if dams are damaged. Earthquakes may cause
landslips to dam rivers, which collapse and cause flood
The terrain below the Sarez Lake in Tajikistan is in danger of
catastrophic flood if the landslide dam formed by the earthquake,
known as the Usoi Dam, were to fail during a future earthquake.
Impact projections suggest the flood could affect roughly 5 million
people.

Human impacts

An earthquake may cause injury and loss of life, road and bridge
damage, general property damage, and collapse or destabilization
(potentially leading to future collapse) of buildings. The aftermath
may bring disease, lack of basic necessities, and higher insurance
premiums.

Prediction
Many methods have been developed for predicting the time and place
in which earthquakes will occur. Despite considerable research efforts
by seismologists, scientifically reproducible predictions cannot yet be
made to a specific day or month. However, for well-understood faults
the probability that a segment may rupture during the next few
decades can be estimated.
Earthquake warning systems have been developed that can provide
regional notification of an earthquake in progress, but before the
ground surface has begun to move, potentially allowing people within
the system's range to seek shelter before the earthquake's impact is
felt.

Preparedness
The objective of earthquake engineering is to foresee the impact of
earthquakes on buildings and other structures and to design such
structures to minimize the risk of damage. Existing structures can be
modified by seismic retrofitting to improve their resistance to
earthquakes. Earthquake insurance can provide building owners with
financial protection against losses resulting from earthquakes.
Emergency management strategies can be employed by a government
or organization to mitigate risks and prepare for consequences.

Disaster mitigation is an act of any sort designed to reduce or

eliminate damage from a hazard event.

Urban planning includes land use planning, physical planning and

development control regulations.

Land use planning determines the use of land and its intensity

Physical planning involves the actual layout of plots, open

spaces, and streets

Development control regulations determine the precise

characteristics of built forms such as the height and bulk of
build ings and construction standards.

Urban infrastructure includes both physical and social infrastructure:

Physical infrastructure constitutes public facilities that link

parts of the city together and provide the basic services the city
needs to function, such as a network of roads and utilities

Social and economic infrastructure includes facilities such as

hospitals, parks and gardens, community centers, libraries,
entertainment and shopping facilities, and educational
buildings. While the benefits from phys ical infrastructure are
patently tangible, the benefits from social infrastructure are
often intangible.

CASE STUDY:
INTRODUCTION

A disasters context and its impact are described in two ways

geographically, and in terms of urban systems.

Geographical
Kutch District
Five districts in the State of Gujarat were severely impacted, but the
worst affected was Kutch, where more than 90 percent of the deaths
and 85 percent of the asset losses occurred. This district is a sparsely
populated region, poor in natural resources (in a relatively rich state),
and vulnerable to cyclones and drought, as well as earthquakes. The
6.9 magnitude earthquake struck in a second consecutive drought year.
Four towns, including the districts largest Bhuj -- and more than
400 villages were severely hit, destroying lives, infrastructure,
buildings, the economy, and livelihoods. The death toll was nearly
14,000, and 167,000 were injured. More than 1.2 million homes were
damaged or destroyed. So were small enterprises, schools, health
clinics, rural and urban water systems, and electricity and
telecommunications systems. While the greatest asset losses were in
the housing sector, the livelihoods of many families were also
disrupted. A joint assessment by the World Bank and Asian
Development Bank a month later found that 19,000 handicraft artisans
and several thousand salt farmers in Kutch were the most severely
affected. Some 20,000 cattle deaths were also reported, the loss of
another important source of livelihood.
The City of Bhuj
Bhuj was one of the worst affected towns in the district; almost 50
percent of its walled city alone was considerably damaged. Over 7,000
people perished in Bhuj, most of them in the walled city area, as
buildings constructed of stone and mud collapsed on extremely narrow
streets. The lack of an effective street pattern was a major obstacle to
disaster management in the earthquakes aftermath. Over the years,
poorly framed building regulations had been weakly enforced, and this
had exacerbated congestion in the city. Many historic buildings had to
be demolished during the rubble removal, making retracing the
original street form and architectural character difficult.

Urban Systems
Local Governance

Bhuj Municipality was almost paralyzed. Many municipal buildings

were destroyed, and records were lost. The municipality lost several
staff, and other staff members lost their families and suffered injur ies.
The municipality lacked the internal capacity to take the lead in relief,
rehabilitation and reconstruction activities.
Bhujs societal structure is fractured along the lines of community
groups and economic interests. The petty interests of such rival groups
often compromised the principle of the common good. No strong
political leadership emerged in the process. However, these castebased and special interest groups contributed significantly to recovery
by leading localized relief and rehabilitation activities for their
constituent communities.
Social and Economic Infrastructure
Social assets (both public and private sector) such as schools,
hospitals, community halls, town halls, markets, libraries, colleges,
recreational buildings (a local gymkhana, an open-air theatre) and
religious buildings were badly affected. However, the community
facilities that did survive were quickly made available to the city by
community groups. Since such places are the first refuge for people
needing shelter, this demonstrates the enormous value in strategizing
the future provision of social assets designed to withstand disasters
and managed either by local government or local institutions
themselves.
Physical Infrastructure
Water and sewer networks in the old city were badly damaged,
ironically more during the movement of heavy machinery to demolish
damaged buildings and to remove debris than during the earthquake
itself. Outside the old city, too, important facilities such as reservoirs,
pipelines, telephone exchanges and power infrastructure were
damaged. However, the trunk lines in these networks survived with
minor damage, enabling the quick restoration of services. Buildings
and infrastructure networks had not been designed specifically to
withstand an earthquakes impact and neither had the possibility to
isolate and separately repair badly affected components of the
infrastructure system.
Urban Planning and Development Regulation
The state government found itself searching for an appropriate
regulatory framework in the absence of specific regulatory measures
that would respond quickly to the earthquake and the complex
challenges of reconstruction. The previous development plan for Bhuj

had been prepared twenty-five years earlier. Its strategy was outdated,
and its map did not reflect the citys present-day vastly expanded

reflect the citys present- limits; the old plan would need to be
completely revamped to respond to new needs. To compound matters,
citizens showed little respect for a municipality that had a record of
poor enforcement of whatever regulations had earlier existed, and as a
result unregulated development in the months following the
earthquake have proven difficult to control. Citizens showed no
culture of conforming to rules that should apply to society as a whole,
in a disaster situation or otherwise. All said and done, the earthquake
gave the state government an opportunity to completely rethink the
applicability of existing planning, regulatory and development
mechanisms in an unlikely context.

ABOUT THE CASE STUDY:

A Powerful Earthquake of magnitude 6.9 on Richter-Scale rocked the
Western Indian State of Gujarat on the 26th of January, 2001. It caused
extensive damage to life & property. This earthquake was so
devastating in its scale and suffering that the likes of it had not been
experienced in past 50 years. Leaving thousands seriously injured,
bruised and handicapped; both physically, psychologically and
economically.
The epicenter of the quake was located at 23.6 north Latitude and 69.8
east Longitude, about 20 km Northeast of Bhuj Town of the Kutch
district in Western Gujarat. At a depth of only 23 kms below surface
this quake generated intense shaking which was felt in 70% region of
India and far beyond in neighbouring Pakistan and Nepal too. This
was followed by intense after shocks that became a continued source
of anxiety for the populace.
The Seismicity of the affected Area of Kutch is a known fact with a
high incidence of earthquakes in recent times and in historical past. It
falls in Seismic Zone V. The only such zone outside the Himalayan
Seismic Belt. In last 200 years important damaging earthquakes
occurred in 1819, 1844, 1845, 1856, 1869,1956 in the same vicinity as
2001 earthquake. Twenty-one of the total 25 districts of the state was
affected in this quake. Around 18 towns, 182 talukas and 7904 villages
in the affected districts have seen large-scale devastation. The affected
areas even spread up to 300 km from the epicentre. In the Kutch
District, four major urban areas Bhuj, Anjar, Bachau and Rapar

suffered near total destruction. The rural areas in the region are also
very badly affected with over 450
villages almost totally destroyed. In addition, wide spread damages
also occurred in Rajkot, Jamnagar, Surendranagar, Patan and
Ahmedabad districts. Other Urban areas such as Ganhidham, Morvi,
Rajkot and Jamnagar have also suffered damage tomajor structures,
infrastructure and industrial facilities. Ahmedabad the capital was also
severely affected.
Gujarat Earthquake is very significant from the point of view of
earthquake disaster mitigation in India. The problems observed in this
disaster are no different from other major recent earthquakes in the
world. The issues in the recovery and reconstruction phase are: the
proper understanding risk among different stakeholders, training and
confidence building among the professionals and masons with
appropriate development planning strategies. This quake has provided
numerous examples of geo-technical and structural failures. The
traditional wisdom of design and construction practises of engineered
buildings prevalent in this country came under criticism for the first
time. It has triggered comprehensive understanding on what needs to
be done in this regard.

DAMAGE:
The greatest damage due to the earthquake occurred in the region of
Kachchh, which is spread over an area of 45 930 km2 and covers
about 22% of the area of Gujarat State. Of the total of 884 villages
located in this region, 518 suffered significant damage, 178 were
completely destroyed, and another 165 damaged to the extent of 70%
or more (Principal Secretary 2001). Several cities and towns in
Kachchh, including Bhuj, Bhachau, Rapar, Anjar, and Gandhidham,
experienced extensive destruction. The earthquake caused serious
damage in other parts of the state as well, including in the cities of
Ahmedabad (a straight line distance of approximately 300 km east of
Bhuj), Jamnagar (~100 km south-southeast of Bhuj), Rajkot ~160 km
southeast), Surendranagar (~200 km east-southeast), Surat (~390 km
southeast), and Patan (~260 km east-northeast). At the end of March
the official estimate of casualties was 20 000. The number of injured is
reported to be 166 000, of which 20 700 suffered serious injury. It is
estimated that about 370 000 houses and huts were completely
destroyed, while another 931 000 were partially destroyed. The total

financial loss is estimated at Rs. 21 300 crores (approximately

Can$7.1 billion) (Department of Agriculture 2001).
Fig: Area near the epicenter of the Bhuj earthquake.

Seismological aspects and tectonic setting

The region of Kachchh is a seismically active region lying in the
western continental margin of the Indian subcontinent. It can be
viewed as a transition zone between the stable continental region of
peninsular India on the south and active plate margins on the north and
east. Along the northern plate boundary the Indo-Australian plate is
pushing against the Eurasian plate. The boundary between the Arabian
plate and the Indo-Australian plate lies to the east. The epicentre of the
January 26 earthquake is located at a distance of about 400 km from
the junction of the three plates.
The Kachchh region is traversed by a number of eastwest tending
faults, including the Katrol Hill fault, Kachchh Mainland fault, Banni
fault, Island Belt fault, and the Allah Bund fault. A team from U.S.
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) first noticed the
presence of a 16 km long and about 0.5 km wide zone of ground

deformation tending east-northeast immediately north of the Kachchh

Mainland fault (EERI 2001). It was accompanied by extensive sand
boils. Other teams, including one from U.S. National Science
Foundation and another from Japan, reported evidence of a possible
fault rupture or a slump east of the zone of ground deformation
observed by the EERI team. It is now believed that the ground
deformations observed by the different teams were all caused by
lateral spreading and liquefaction rather than by surface faulting. On
the basis of evidence collected so far, the geologists believe that the
Bhuj earthquake originated from an east west tending blind thrust
fault at a focal depth of about 20 km. The fault strike was in the
direction N60E and the fault plane dipped about 60 to 70S (EERI
2001). The fault rupture did not propagate to the surface.

EFFECTS
The final death toll in Kutch was 12,300. Bhuj, situated only 20
kilometres (12 mi) from the epicenter, was devastated. Considerable
damage also occurred in Bhachau and Anjarwith hundreds of villages
flattened in Taluka of Anjar, Bhuj & Bhachau. Over a million
structures were damaged or destroyed, including many historic
buildings and tourist attractions.[7] The quake destroyed around 40%
of homes, eight schools, two hospitals and 4 km of road in Bhuj and
partly destroyed the city's historic Swaminarayan temple and historic
fort as well Prag Mahal and Aina Mahal. In Ahmedabad, Gujarat's
commercial capital with a population of 5.6 million, as many as 50
multi-storied buildings collapsed and several hundred people were
killed. Total property damage was estimated at $5.5 billion and rising.
In Kutch, the earthquake destroyed about 60% of food and water
supplies and around 258,000 houses 90% of the district's housing
stock. The biggest setback was the total demolition of the Bhuj Civil
hospital. The Indian military provided emergency support which was
later augmented by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Society. A temporary Red Cross hospital remained in Bhuj to
provide care while a replacement hospital was built

Shaking Effects (Outside Gujarat):

Outside Gujarat, to the west, strong shaking was experienced in the

Indus delta and in the large cities of Karachi and

Hyderabad. 18 people were killed in the Sindh. A 7-storey building,
Ghousia Apartments collapsed in the city of Hyderabad. Liquefaction,
earthquake fountains and sandblows were also reported from here. In
Rajasthan, many buildings were badly damaged, mainly at Bakhasar
and Jodhpur. Many structures of historical importance, like the
Jaiselmer Fort, were damaged in Rajasthan. Damage was also reported
from Mt. Abu, Pokhran, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Udaipur. In Madhya
Pradesh tremors were felt prominently in the Narmada Valley, as far as
Jabalpur. In Maharashtra, buildings developed cracks at many places
in Mumbai and Vashi. A fire brigade station suffered slight structural
damage at Wadala, Mumbai. Tremors were felt strongly in Mumbai,
Pune and as far as Kolhapur. Beyond these areas, the shock was felt to
a limited extent in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and Bengalooru, and
in high-rise buildings as far as Kolkata and New Delhi. Long period
effects such as a sensation of nausea / giddiness among people and
oscillating hanging objects were reported from many parts of India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Press reports from Bangladesh,
reported unusual drifts in rivers in the Sunderbans following the
earthquake. Even at locations over 1,000 kilometres from the
epicentre, ground shaking was amplified in recent sediments resulting
in locally moderate shaking. Such effects were experienced in the
Kaveri delta of Tamil Nadu, in the Bengal basin and in the Kathmandu
Valley in Nepal.

Effect on public infrastructure:

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (A.E.R.C.) reported no
damage from the nuclear power stations at Kakrapara (Gujarat),
Rawatbhata (Rajasthan), Tarapur (Maharashtra), Narora (Uttar
Pradesh), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu) and Kaiga (Karnataka). The
Department of Atomic Energy (D.A.E.) said that the Kakrapara
nuclear reactor, at Anumala, near Surat withstood the earthquake and
was functional after the earthquake. The level of shaking is reported to
have reached 51.2 Hz, very close to the tripping level. Several dams,
such as the Suvi and Tappar Dams, were damaged in the epicentral
area. Nearly 200 dams were damaged and required to either be

repaired or strengthened. The intake tower of the Tapper Dam near

Gandhidham was heavily damaged. Water supply was disrupted in
Kutchh due to damage caused to the water pumping and pipe
transmission system. Two elevated water tanks collapsed in the
epicentral area, though 100 others survived without any major
damage. 5 tanks also collapsed in the Maliya-Morbi area. Such a
structure was seen swaying during the mainshock at Radhanpur. 16
out of 300 well inspected following the earthquake had sulphur
problems. Highways were still functional. The Surajbari Bridge on
National Highway 8A, suffered serious structural damage and traffic
movement was restricted on it. A major power failure was experienced
all over Gujarat immediately following the earthquake. The power
stations at Wanakbori (1200 MW), Gandhinagar (450 MW), Dhuvaran
(250 MW), AECO (380 MW), Panendro (110 MW), Sikka (110 MW)
and Gandhar (90 MW) tripped. All 400 kV lines, except the 400 kV
Indore-Asoj D/C and Jhanor-Padghe line tripped. Due to this, the
frequency jumped from 49.86 Hz tp 5.15 Hz, causing a throw of 3500
MW in northern and central Gujarat and in Saurashtra. The Powergrid
restored its lines within 13 minutes while the NTPC was done in 2
hours. Due to the immediate action by the Western Load Dispatch
Centre of the Ministry of Power, a complete collapsed of the western
grid (covering Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Goa,
Chhatisgarh and parts of Rajasthan) was prevented.
Telecommunication networks were temporarily distrupted and the
fiber optic lines severed. However, services were restored by within a
week as was a cellular phone service.

Liquefaction Features:
Sandblows occurred over a wide area in Gujarat and were even
reported from adjoining areas of Pakistan. A sandblow near Umedpur,
50 kilometres north of the epicentre, had a crater that was 10 metres
by 5 metres across. Earthquake fountains were observed at Jamnagar.
The furthest liquefaction was reported at Bharuch and Jambusar in
south-eastern Gujarat. Liquefaction in the Great and Little Ranns was
extensive. Water levels in the salt pans in the Little Rann rose
dramatically and workers were forced onto the roads which were at a

slightly higher elevation. Liquefaction covered an area of 10,000

square kilometres. Satellite images showed palaeo-channels and
water bodies in the Great Rann. It was initially speculated in the press,
that this was the reactivation of the Hakra river or the mythical
Saraswati river, a view which was not shared by scientific data.
Satellite images before and after the earthquake also showed the
emergence of land, on the shores of the Gulf of Kutchh, around
Kandla, a phenomenon which occurs only when there is a significant
reduction in tidal waves activity. However, tidal height data from
Kandla Port was not available following the earthquake. In the waters
of the Gulf of Kutch and the Gulf of Khambat (also called Cambay)
chlorophyll and suspended sediment concentrations rose and the fish
catch off Daman in February was found to be double the normal value
for that time of the year. A rise of 2.5 centimetres in the level of
ground water was reported from Sola in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.
The temperature of the hot springs at Ganeshpuri in Maharashtra's
Thane district, rose from 35C to 75C. The level of the water also rose
by three feet. Ground waves were also reportedly seen near Bhuj.

Aftershocks:
The strongest aftershock occurred on January 28, 2001 and was
centred near Bhachau. It had a magnitude of Mw=5.8 and caused
widespread panic in Gujarat. People rushed out into the open in
Ahmedabad where the aftershock was felt for 30 seconds. It was also
felt at Jaiselmer in Rajasthan and as far away as Mumbai. Many
people were injured at Ahmedabad, in an M5.3 aftershock on February
8, 2001, as they jumped from buildings in panic. An aftershock on
February 24, injured several people in Sindh, Pakistan and caused
some damage to buildings in the area.

Introduction to EPC and its Involvement in Bhuj

The Environmental Planning Collaborative (EPC), established in
1996, is a not for profit, private, professional planning and

development management company. The company provides

professional consultancy services primarily to urban local bodies
including municipal corporations and urban development authorities.
EPC also works with a variety of other agencies involved in urban
development such as state government departments, international
funding and lending agencies, special purpose vehicles for urban
development and non-government/autonomous organizations. Most
projects are undertaken in a collaborative and participatory manner
with significant involvement from the client, major stakeholders and
other related agencies. EPCs work is primarily of four types: (1)
urban and regional development planning, (2) environmental and
policy planning, (3) development management and (4) research and
development.
Immediately after the earthquake, EPC deputed its personnel in Bhuj
to study the situation and initiate public consultations. This evolved
into a USAID funded project entitled Initiative for Planned and
Participatory Reconstruction in Kutch (IPPR) in collaboration with
The Communities Group International (TCGI). The IPPR consisted of
experiments in participatory planning at the regional level and in
urban and rural communities. This was followed by a United StatesAsia Environmental Partnership (USAEP)-funded project, Atlas for
Post-Disaster Reconstruction under which EPC in collaboration with
the Planning and Development Company (PADCO) prepared maps of

the four towns showing plot level information on intensity of damage,

land use and number of floors. These maps were provided to the
respective town planning consultants through the Gujarat Urban
Development Company (GUDC). In May 2001, EPC was commissioned
by GUDC to prepare a development plan for Bhuj and subsequently, in
February 2002, the contract was extended to include a detailed plan for
the walled city. While the detailed plan for the walled city is nearing
completion, EPC continues to be involved in Bhuj through the IPPR
project.

An Overview of Mitigation Initiatives in Bhuj

Build Back Better Defining Basic Principles and Policy
for Reconstruction
To build the city back better, applying a policy of encouraging
partial relocation and partial in situ reconstruction.

To continue with the citys existing infrastructure, repairing

and revamping it after the earthquake so that it is better
managed responds better to natural disasters. This approach
would save the government the considerable expenditure of
building new infrastructure in the aftermath of a future disaster.

To improve building construction quality so that it incorporates

earthquake-resistant technologies and adheres to regulatory
norms.

Assist people in the reconstruction process; help them to

understand statutory requirements in planning, build
consensus, and frame projects that respond to peoples
concerns and needs.

Make the planning process as participatory as possible, by

encouraging public -private partnerships, building fora at
which citizens can participate in decision making and voice
their concerns; and build a modicum of public trust in the
process to ensure implementation.

Establishing an Institutional and Regulatory Framework for

Reconstruction:
The government established the Gujarat State Disaster
Management Authority (GSDMA). The GSDMAs current role
is to finance and oversee the entire post-disaster reconstruction
project in the State of Gujarat. Its future role will be to guide
the preparation of disaster management and mitigation plans

for all cities, towns and regions in Gujarat and to finance their
implementation.

With the assistance of experts from the USAID-FIRE(D)

project and in consultation with various local institutions and
international agencies, the government created the following
institutional framework for undertaking reconstruction: In May
2001, the government created Area Development Authorities
in Bhuj, Bhachau, Anjar and Rapar under the provisions of the
Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976.
The ADAs were made responsible for implementing town
planning proposals and ensuring adherence to improved
regulations.

The government negotiated a US$100 million (Rs. 500 crore)

loan from the Asian Development Bank to fund urban
reconstruction.

Since the post-earthquake urban reconstruction project

demanded special attention, dedicated staff and special skills,
the government designated the Gujarat Urban Development
Company (GUDC) as the implementing agency for the project.
The GUDC is a special purpose vehicle established by the
government (before the earthquake) to conceptualize and
implement urban development projects.

In contrast to the conventional method of staffing

suchorganizations, the Government of Gujarat chose the more
progressive method of outsourcing the tasks of town planning,
infrastructure planning, and scrutiny of applications for
building permissions to support the ADAs and GUDC.

Designing Policy Packages for the Earthquake Victims

The urban reconstruction package announced in April 2001 favored
partial reconstruction and partial relocation. It envisaged the
following:

Reduction of development intensity in urban areas by

restricting both building height and the permissible floor space
index, implying horizontal expansion of the city, during
reconstruction and in the years to come.

To guide and regulate the citys reconstruction and growth, the

government package announced that town planning would be
carried out and development control regulations would be
revised.

The package offered plots at specific relocation sites to homes

and businesses that wished to relocate from the walled city and
to those that would be affected by town planning proposals.
Though the sites were not specified, possible locations were
indicated based on the availability of vacant government land.

In the case of Bhuj, the package also specifically mentioned

that government properties inside the walled city would be
made available for the redevelopment of the walled city. There
were special provisions for tenants and unauthorized/illegal
settlements.

Reconstruction Activities
The reconstruction process involves a wide range of activities. For the
purpose of this paper, these activities have been grouped under the
following titles. The next sections analyze the mitigation aspect of
each of these activities.
Key activities:

Mapping and property database

Preparation of a city-level development plan

The development of urban infrastructure

Town planning schemes to redevelop the walled city

Experiments in community planning, institution building and

supporting civil society initiatives.

Mitigation Measures in Bhujs Reconstruction Activity

This section describes the major activities undertaken as part of the
reconstruction process in Bhuj. It also outlines how disaster mitigation
concerns have been integrated into each of these activities. Further,
this section also attempts to analyze the role of financing methods in
decision making.
Mapping and Property Databases
A few weeks after the earthquake, when attention shifted from rescue
and relief to rehabilitation and reconstruction, the realization dawned
that there were no useful maps of the severely affected towns in
Kutch. Base maps available with the City Survey Department were
thirty years old and had no information other than pr operty numbers.
The process of mapping the city and creating reliable databases for the
city went through the following stages in the last two years.

Atlas for Post-Disaster Reconstruction

The activity
As a first step towards planning the reconstruction, EPC and PADCO
prepared an Atlas for Post-Disaster Reconstruction to assess damage to
buildings. The atlas consists of the cadastral maps of Bhuj, Bhachau,
Anjar and Rapar, showing plot-level information on land use, the
number of floors, the type of construction, and the intensity of
damage. Updating the maps was done using satellite images and data
was collected using field surveys. These were prepared and provided
as preliminary base maps to the Gujarat Urban Development
Company, who in turn provided them to the respective town planning
consultants for all four cities. The consultants subsequently prepared
more detailed and accurate maps of the above four towns. However, as
the mapping, database generation and planning were carried out
simultaneously, the atlas was useful in formulating conceptual plans,
which were then refined using the detailed maps.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation
Most cities in the developing world, particularly small towns have no
useful maps. The kind of preliminary maps prepared for the atlas are
relatively inexpensive, but can go a long way in identifying
vulnerability and guiding the preparation of mitigation plans.
How it was financed
Funding for this mitigation activity came from the US-Asia
Environmental Partnership (USAEP).
Lessons learned
Such strategic investments by aid agencies can help build the capacity
of local agencies to undertake disaster mitigation and thus reduce
future aid requirements. It is important to publish immediately such
maps in hard and electronic copies to enhance public awareness about
the usefulness of such tools. Making such maps publicly available will
also help in correcting and updating the maps as people would point
out mistakes and shortcomings.
Inventory of Historic Properties
The activity
A mapped inventory of historic properties to guide heritage

conservation was prepared for the city of Bhuj alone. The inventory
presented a tabular

enumeration of all historic properties in the walled city of Bhuj; a series of maps showing
these properties and the type of buildings on them (major monuments, religious structures,
institutional buildings, houses, etc.); and a catalogue of photographs to match each entry on
the maps.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation
This overall map helped planners to anticipate problems in networking roads in the walled
city, to avoid religious structures, and to acknowledge the historic center of Bhuj as a
commercial sector and tourist destination. The maps set a methodological precedent for the
future comprehensive listing of buildings that have survived post-disaster demolition, and
which could be highlighted in the long term as tourist sites. In fact, the inventory was utilized
later to design a heritage walk brochure and a poster on Bhuj heritage (the walk has yet to
take off as an activity).
How it was financed
Funding for this mitigation activity came from the USAID FIRE (D) Project as part of the
Initiative for Planned and Participatory Reconstruction (IPPR).
Lessons learned
In retrospect, if the heritage inventory and maps had been immediately published, it might
have helped save some buildings during the demolition and debris removal process that
followed. It might also have helped planners and the public at large to assign cultural values
to buildings and places in a more informed manner during the participatory planning process
for reconstruction.
Preparation of Detailed and Accurate Base Maps for Bhuj
The activity
The planning area de lineated for Bhuj covered 56 square kilometers to accommodate the
growth of the city and its suburbs that presently house a population of 125,000. The last
development plan for Bhuj was made in 1976. The city had not been resurveyed in the past
30 years. The base maps were outdated and devoid of detail. There were no contour maps
(which are needed to plan infrastructure). The entire planning area was resurveyed in great
detail with the latest computerized equipment by eight survey teams working simultaneously
for two months. These maps show all physical features visible above the ground such as
roads, plot boundaries, building footprints, telephone poles, manholes and trees. The survey
also generated a contour map with contours at 0.5 meter intervals. As of today, no city in
India has a map of this level of accuracy and degree of detail.
However, when the survey was complete, the planners discovered that the survey results did
not match with the official cadastral maps. Matching survey outputs with the 30-year-old
official maps and land records of the City Survey Department and the District Inspector of
Land Records became a tedious and painstaking task, involving the reexamination of each
property record. This activity took an additional four months to complete.
To avoid delays in the planning process, survey outputs were overlaid on the official map and
a draft development plan was prepared and published for comment while correction of the
official map was in progress. Though this did result in some confusion, it helped speed up the
planning process. The new corrected base map was used to modify the draft development
plan incorporated citizens comments and the development plan was finalized. The base map,
based on an X-Y coordinate system, provided the basis for implementing infrastructure
projects later on.

Later in the process, town planning schemes (land readjustment schemes) were prepared for
the walled city. The density of plots compounded the problems (there were 12,000 plots in a
130 hectare area that is, nearly 100 plots per hectare). It was critical to assess the condition
of buildings on a plot by plot basis. The government carried out an official assessment of
building condition, categorizing buildings as G0 to G5, with G5 being the most severely
damaged category. All buildings officially designated G5 were marked on the base map.
However, the official records identified G5 buildings by municipal house number, while the
base map had only city survey numbers. The only register that matched city survey numbers
with municipal house numbers (the Inquiry Register of the City Survey Department) had old
house numbers. The municipality had renumbered the houses, but had not maintained any
register that had both old and new house numbers. Therefore the planning team had to carry
out its own survey of buildings to be able to make planning decisions.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation
Detailed and accurate maps of cities are necessary for the following purposes:

To assess vulnerability to flooding

To provide a base for seismic/geotectonic and geological studies to assess earthquake

vulnerability

To design city-level rainwater harvesting systems to reduce vulnerability to drought

and other problems related to ground water depletion

To provide the base for collecting and compiling data on housing condition and land
use for a multi-hazard vulnerability assessment.

How it was financed

The cost of the survey and base map preparation was integrated into the cost of formulating
the development plan (however, the level of effort required to correct the official maps and
land records was grossly underestimated). The USAID-FIRE Project played a key role in
assisting GUDC with formulation of the Terms of Reference for the town planning
consultants it was the foresight of the FIRE team that led to incorporation of the survey in
the TOR. The TOR was subsequently sanctified by the Asian Development Banks (ADB)
approval as part of its reconstruction loan package.
Lessons learned
The importance of accurate base maps for cities cannot be over-emphasized. Usually, no
survey is carried out during the planning stage and the preparation of development plans,
therefore planners prepare proposals using inadequate information. The cost of carrying out a
survey is often seen as unaffordable, whereas the future costs of planning infrastructure with
inadequate information is never visible to the untrained eye. A systematic effort has to be
mounted to create accurate base maps for all Indian cities without waiting for disasters to
strike each one of them. This requires close collaboration between the Urban Development
Department and the Office of the Settlement Commissioner, under whom the City Survey
Department and the District Inspector of Land Records work. It is also worthwhile
considering amendments to law that would make local urban bodies responsible for and the
custodians of updated maps and land records. Often cadastral information is maintained by
several local agencies on different base maps, making it impossible to relate these maps to
each other. Therefore it is important for the main local government agency to create a unified
base map with all topographical, cadastral and thematic information and to persuade all

agencies to work using the same base map.

City-Level Development Plan
Background The Reconstruction Strategy
The devastation that occurred in Bhuj, particularly in the old city, was unprecedented in the
history of urban India . With no past experience to draw upon, putting in place a
reconstruction strategy required careful thought. In comparison, for rural areas, the experie
nce of earthquakes at Latur and Uttarkashi were available for reference. In the immediate
aftermath of the earthquake, the discussion both on the ground and in government revolved
around two drastic alternatives total relocation of the city (New Bhuj) and in situ
reconstruction. There were vocal proponents of both approaches among the public and among
government officials. Having carefully considered all options, in April 2001, the government
formulated a reconstruction package for the affected urban areas of Gujarat, with separate
sections for Bhuj, Bhachau, Anjar and Rapar. As mentioned in the earlier section, one of the
key features of this package was the mention of town planning and development control
regulations to guide and regulate the reconstruction and future growth of the city.
Not without some hesitation, the Government of Gujarat decided to utilize existing provisions
in the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976, to undertake preparation of
a development plan for the cities of Bhuj, Bhachau, Anjar and Rapar. The preparation,
publication, revision and sanction of a city-level development plan normally takes two years
at the very least for a city the size of Bhuj. However, in the case of the above four towns,
despite the comple xities involved, the government achieved this stupendous task in just six
months and that too with much greater detail, accuracy and public participation than was ever
done before, at least in Gujarat if not in India.
Studies and Public Consultations
The activity
A series of studies were carried out in record time to assess earthquake risk in different parts
of the city and its surroundings as well as to provide input into the development plan. These
studies included:

Land suitability analysis

Demographic studies

Land market

Development regulations

Infrastructure status and needs

Intensity of damage and seismic vulnerability

Rehabilitation needs.

GUDC commissioned a study by the Geological Survey of India to assess soil conditions in
various parts of the city from the point of view of suitability for foundations of various kinds
of buildings. While the scientists broadly categorized the city in terms of good, fair and poor
soil conditions, their study could not give concrete micro-level information that could be

incorporated into the regulations, nor did the study conclusively rule out development in any
part of the city.
Micro-zoning was not carried out for Bhuj. It is an exercise that takes a long time and has
to be carried out meticulously. The results of a micro-zoning study would probably provide
input for the structural design of buildings in specific locations rather than land use zoning in
the development plan.
A series of public consultation exercises were carried out in two rounds. The first round of
meetings was with opinion leaders and specific stakeholder groups leading up to the
preparation of a conceptual development plan. In the second round of consultations, the
conceptual development plan was presented at a series of public meetings and group
discussions including a city-level workshop with invitees from a cross-section of Bhuj
society. In all, over 150 consultation meetings were been held and documented. In addition, a
household level questionnaire survey was carried out, interviewing 2,500 families and several
hundred trade and industrial establishments.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation
Market forces influencing the planning process in an insidious manner often drive land use
planning. In the case of Bhuj, detailed studies provided the basis for the development plan.
The conceptual plan was presented to the public, breaking the monopoly on information that
usually prevails. It is common for real estate developers to speculate in land based on the
proposals of the development plan. In the case of Bhuj, the public consultation process
ensured that the opportunity to speculate was eliminated. More importantly, the rationale for
the proposed land use pattern is now clearly known to the general public and therefore nonconforming uses that endanger public safety are likely to meet with opposition from
concerned citizens. The public consultation process itself informed the preparation of the plan
tremendously as people came forward and contributed not just their opinions on the plan, but
also their understanding of the ground realities and the history of the city. The process also
triggered local initiatives for the development of the city.
How it was financed
Official public consultations on the development plan were financed by the GUDC under
the ADB loan. However, the stakeholder consultation process was set in motion in Bhuj by
the EPC (in collaboration with TCGI) well in advance of the development plan project,
through the USAID-FIRE-funded Initiative for Planned and Participatory Reconstruction.
The most heartening fact is that the collective thinking process initiated (and still supported)
in Bhuj by EPC has since evolved into a local initiative named Bhuj Development Council. It
is funded independently by NGOs operating in Bhuj.
Lessons learned
During the consultations, it emerged that public opinion is fragmented on the various issues
surrounding reconstruction. There was no strong local leadership. In retrospect, perhaps the
government could have spent more effort on proactive consensus building and less on
opinion seeking.
Early in the process, EPC had proposed the establishment of a community resource center as
a joint effort of the local administration and the planning team or an NGO. The center, as a
single window facility, would provide information, assistance and help in consensus building.
This is still relevant and should be taken up.
The evolution of the process in Bhuj sufficiently proves the value of investing strategically in
kick-starting local initiatives through stakeholder consultations and studies. Once again, the
importance of publishing all such material cannot be over-emphasized.

Preparation and Publication of a City Level Development Plan

The activity
Based on responses received during the presentation of the conceptual development plan in
July-August 2001, modifications were made, proposals were detailed and the draft
development plan was published in September 2001 (under Section 15 of the Gujarat Town
Planning and Urban Development Act). The plan was open for comments from the public for
two months - until mid-November. Incorporating changes based on public comments on the
base map, the plan was finalized in December 2001 and sanctioned immediately by the
government (under Section 16 of the GTPUD Act).
Typically, a draft development plan prepared under the GTPUD Act focuses on three
components: (1) the road network plan, (2) the land use zoning plan and (3) the development
control regulations. These are the three major factors that determine future land values. In the
case of Bhuj, EPC with USAID support had already initiated a strategic planning exercise
and this was integrated into the development plan. Thus the draft development plan for Bhuj
became a comprehensive plan that dealt with the following components:
1.
Relocation and Rehabilitation
2.

Economic Development
3. Land Development Land Use Zoning and Development Control Regulations

4.

Road Network and Transportation

5.

Physical Infrastructure

6.

Social Infrastructure

7.

Open Spaces, Water Bodies and Environment

8.

Heritage Conservation

9.

Solid Waste Management

10.

Informal Sector

11.

Implementation Strategy.
The relevance of the content of each section to disaster mitigation is described below. The
gist of the development plan was displayed on a touch-screen info-kiosk placed initially in
the office of the Bhuj Area Development Authority. EPC also prepared a booklet on the
development plan, but it was never published.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation
The proposals of the development plan go beyond the exigencies of the post-disaster situation
and articulate a vision (that includes public input) for the city. The vision statement of the
development plan clearly notes, Bhuj is equipped to withstand and manage disasters with
minimum loss of life and property. Each component of the plan incorporates some elements
of disaster mitigation. A few examples are listed below:

The section on economic development proposes the development of heritage tourism,

thus creating the possibility of investments being channelled into the retrofitting and
conservation of heritage properties in the city. The section on heritage conservation
supports this through a preliminary listing of heritage properties and the introduction
of heritage regulations. The regulations protect heritage properties and also promote
their adaptive reuse through incentives.

The economic development section also proposes to build on the current strengths of
the Bhuj economy and utilize opportunities available to diversify the economic base,
so following a disaster there should be multiple economic activities to fall back upon.
This is critical for vulnerable regions since loss of economic opportunity cripples an
urban population far more than any other loss.

One of the major causes for the huge loss of life and property in the walled city was
the haphazard layout and high density of development. The land development section
proposes a more even distribution of development density across the city with job
concentrations along major transport corridors, thus ensuring that vulnerability is
reduced and land servicing is improved both in terms of access and infrastructure.

The land development section also proposes a new set of General Development
Control Regulations (GDCR). The GDCR is published as a separate document. In
September 2001, the EPC had prepared a GDCR tailored to the needs and character of
Bhuj. However, in December 2001, when the Government of Gujarat sanctioned the
development plan, they changed the GDCR to make it uniform and consistent across
Kutch. They followed the same model as in Ahmedabad and ran into serious trouble,
then changed it twice. The whole exercise has been fraught with problems. The
significant aspects of the revised GDCR are that new structural codes have been
introduced; procedural requirements have been made stringent; building height been
restricted to ground plus one floor and the floor space index has been restricted to 1.2
outside the walled city and 1.5 inside the walled city. Changes in the GDCR will
enhance safety, provided people conform.

In the twenty-five years following the publication of the last development plan in
Bhuj, the city has grown in a haphazard manner with practically no structure in its
street network. The new development plan for Bhuj gives the city a structural skeleton
of ring and radial roads, creating sectors of approximately one square kilometer in
size. This will ensure that even if micro-level town planning is not carried out in the
entire city (which should ideally be done), in a future disaster, every sector of the city
should have access to a major road within 500 meters.

The section on physical infrastructure incorporated a conceptual plan for water

supply, sewerage, storm water drainage and solid waste management. This was
followed later by the preparation of a detailed design for infrastructure systems by the
Infrastructure Design and Supervision Consultants (IDSC).

The development plan examined the current distribution of facilities such as hospitals,
parks and gardens, community centers, libraries, entertainment and shopping
facilities, and educational buildings and found that the areas where low income
groups lived in slums (30 percent of the citys population) were the least served by
such facilities. The plan therefore proposed allocation of land for such facilities in
these areas. This is important for disaster mitigation as such places are the first refuge
for people needing to turn for shelter.

Bhuj experiences low rainfall, but is blessed with a bowl-shaped topography with a
large city lake (the Hamirsar) at the lowest point, in the center of the city, next to the
walled city. The historic rulers of Kutch had established a system of interlinked water
bodies and water channels that at one time ensured that even in a moderate rainfall
year, the Hamirsar would fill up with run-off from catchments, also boosting
groundwater recharge. The section on open spaces, water bodies and the environment

proposes the revival of this traditional system, thus reducing vulnerability to floods,
drought and problems related to groundwater depletion.

The section on informal sector deals with perhaps the most neglected sector of urban
development in the post-disaster planning and reconstruction effort. The proposals
deal with the provision of shelter and physical, social and economic infrastructure for
the residents of informal settlements (slums). This is important from the disaster
mitigation point of view simply because these people constitute the most deprived and
therefore the most vulnerable segment of society.

How it was financed

Even though the ADB urban reconstruction loan was meant to finance urban infrastructure,
the terms of the loan included funds for technical consultancy services. The Government of
Gujarat utilized these funds for commissioning town planning consultants and infrastructure
design and supervision consultants.
Lessons learned
Comprehensive, multi-sectoral plans for the overall development of the city must be made
mandatory as a precursor to any major city-level infrastructure development project. The
infrastructure plan should follow and be based upon this comprehensive development plan.
The government of Gujarats decision to revitalize and utilize existing legislation and
planning systems rather than create new ones is laudable. However, the Town Planning Act
could have been amended to introduce special provisions for disaster-affected areas, changing
laws, rules, procedures and conventions to increase speed and flexibility. Such modifications
were later introduced for town planning schemes. Following the Hanshin earthquake (1995)
in Japan, the Japanese government enacted a Special Act for Disaster Afflicted Urban Areas
with special provisions for urban planning including the creation of neighborhood
committees called Mazikuri for land readjustment projects.
One of the major flaws in the building regulation system is the definition of roles and
responsibilities of the professionals involved for example, architects, structural engineers
and clerks of works. These problems have yet to be resolved.
As with the other activities, it is important to widely publicize the planning process to enable
meaningful public participation.
The Development of Urban Infrastructure (Physical, Social and
Economic)
The activity
Following the sanction of the development plan, the infrastructure design and supervision
consultants prepared detailed plans for the city outside the walled city area. GUDC
commissioned contractors for executing capital works. The Bhuj Area Development
Authority (BHADA) initiated the land acquisition process for major road alignments and
other facilities such as treatment plants. The construction of roads, installation of water
supply and sewage lines are underway today.
The infrastructure project also includes many public facilities that fall broadly under the
category of social and economic infrastructure such as hospitals, town hall, shopping
facilities, and educational buildings. While buildings belonging to the municipality are
handled through the GUDC, line departments handle other buildings. For example,
government schools are being rebuilt by the education department and primary health centers
by the health department. There are also special projects funded by other agencies. The best
example is a specialized hospital that is financed by the Government of India from the Prime

Ministers Relief Fund. The social infrastructure projects are not limited to reconstruction
alone. The reconstruction process is also seen as an opportunity to create new facilities. For
example, a new engineering college and a new university are being established in Bhuj.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation
Infrastructure placement has been designed utilizing existing systems and the topographical
features of Bhuj (the accurate surveys helped in ensuring this), reducing capital costs, power
consumption and therefore operating and maintenance costs. One of the most important
features is that the components of each system reservoirs, treatment plants and pipe
networks have been designed to withstand earthquakes.
The introduction of new social infrastructure also has great value in disaster mitigation. The
specialized hospital that is being constructed in Bhuj will become a resource not just for
Bhuj, but the entire underdeveloped Kutch region This hospital has been designed to
withstand even severe earthquakes.
How it was financed
The entire urban infrastructure reconstruction program in Bhuj is being financed through the
ADB loan. The Government of Gujarat perceives this project as a model for all future urban
infrastructure programs in Gujarat. However, the cost recovery policy is still unclear. The
terms of the ADB loan played a significant role in ensuring that the new infrastructure is
disaster resistant from a multi-hazard point of view. As mentioned earlier, the social
infrastructure has been financed from various sources.
Lessons learned
In the case of Bhuj, the entire reconstruction project is given practically free of cost and is
perceived to be the responsibility of the Government of Gujarat. Therefore neither basic costs
nor the cost of disaster mitigation is being recovered. In future mainstream projects it would
be important to estimate the additional cost of mit igation and include this in cost recovery
proposals.
Town Planning Schemes to Redevelop the Walled City
The activity
There was and still is a clear consensus that the walled city needs to be drastically improved.
The main requirement is the enhancement of safety and enabling effective disaster
management. For this it is necessary to make the street network more efficient and create
more open spaces. The existing street network was full of bottlenecks. At the risk of
oversimplifying the issue, it can be said that there were two clear options widen existing
main streets or create new streets by using the space created by collapsed buildings.
1.

The first option would have meant demolition of large numbers of standing buildings,
particularly the thriving market streets that survived the earthquake. This would have resulted
in massive displacement of people and businesses (which drive Bhujs economy).

2.

The second option was clearly preferable, not only from an economic point of view
but also from a practical implementation point of view. The development plan published in
September 2001 proposed that a set of new wide loop roads be created utilizing patches of
open land created by collapsed buildings. These roads would give access to markets and the
entire walled city, while the market streets could be converted into pedestrian areas. This
approach was endorsed by all levels of decision-making from the general public in Bhuj right
up to the Chief Minister. However there was and still is, a small group of people who feel that
the markets should be demolished and widened, and by not doing so amounts to being

partisan to commercial interests.

There were three options again for realizing the proposed plan:
1.

Put road widening lines in the development plan and hope that the roads would be
created over many years as buildings are rebuilt.

2.

Acquire the land and buildings coming encroaching upon major road alignments
through the land acquisition process (leaving the rest of the walled city as it is).
3. Reorganize all open plots using the town planning scheme process, improving plot
layout and creating new streets.
Since urban renewal in such a complex situation has never been attempted before in India ,
and perhaps seldom in the world, it was a difficult decision for the government to take.
Having evaluated all options, it was decided that the own planning scheme option should be
chosen as it would create an overall improvement and at the same time, spread the burden of
land and property loss evenly over all affected properties. Displacement would be minimized.
The town planning schemes, prepared under the provisions of the Gujarat Town Planning and
Urban Development Act, go through a three-stage process. In the first stage, known as the
draft town planning scheme (completed in August 2002), the Bhuj Area Development
Authority prepared and published a plan, sought input from plot owners, revised the plan in
response to comments and submitted the draft scheme to the government for approval. After
the draft scheme was approved, town planning officers who act in a quasi judicial capacity
were appointed. All owners were provided with three rounds of individual hearings before the
physical layout, known as the preliminary scheme (being completed now) was finalized. In
the third stage, known as the final scheme, financial details such as compensation to be paid
to owners and betterment charges to be levied upon them will be finalized.
The basic principle in creating the new streets is to deduct a portion of land from all owners,
change the size and shape of their plots, and improve plot layout. In the case of the walled
city of Bhuj, to ensure equity and practicality, the following deduction policy was adopted:
Plots less than 30 square meters, no deduction
30 to 100 square meters

10 percent

100 to 200 square meters

20 percent

200 to 500 square meters

30 percent

More than 500 square meters 35 percent

Standing buildings would be spared from deduction unless they were affected by proposed
road alignments. Against every original plot, a final plot is allotted after deduction. The
ownership rights associated with the original plot are transferred to the final plot.
While this workshop was being held , final plots are being handed over to owners. The
infrastructure design and supervision consultants have already prepared plans for completely
replacing the utility networks in the walled city area and have started road execution.
It is worth noting that the Government of Japan adopted a similar approach to the postearthquake reconstruction of Kobe. The government first prepared a city-level plan for the
major road network and other city-level infrastructure. As part of this plan, they delineated
land readjustment areas and formed neighborhood committees known as mazikuri. The
mazikuri were made responsible for taking ownership of the micro-level planning decisions
and they were provided the services of town planners to carry out the technical work
(physical planning). As in the case of Bhuj, they also ran into serious problems related to

inaccurate base maps and outdated land records. The reconstruction process in Kobe is still
ongoing, nearly eight years after the quake.
The planning process carried out for the redevelopment of the walled city of Bhuj is perhaps
the most complex physical planning exercise ever attempted in India. It has already
consumed over 100,000 hours of work by highly qualified professionals using the best
available technology, coordinated the work of nearly a dozen organizations and dealt with
over 12,000 plots for which over 30,000 persons have ownership claims. What has been
achieved is almost unbelievable given the conditions in which the work has been carried out.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation:
The reorganization of the walled city of Bhuj will result in significantly enhanced safety for
residents and visitors. Evacuation of the city in the event of a disaster will now be much
faster. The likelihood of buildings crashing on the streets has been minimized. Emergency
vehicles can now access the entire walled city area.
The infrastructure systems in the walled city had already begun to deteriorate significantly
when the earthquake struck. Significant damage was inflicted by the quake and the
movement of heavy machinery for demolition and debris removal. Today it is certain that
there are numerous breakages in both water supply and sewer lines and these are practically
impossible to trace. There is significant risk of drinking water contamination. There would
also be major supply losses due to these breakages. The complete renovation of the system
will mitigate such risks.
In most Indian cities, there are areas that are as vulnerable to disasters as the walled city area
of Bhuj. Micro-level planning interventions are required in all of them to enhance safety and
improve the quality of the urban environment. However, generally, governments hesitate to
intervene in such areas, as the task is complex. EPC has in the past prepared walled city
revitalization plans for the cities of Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat, both exercises in
collaboration with municipal corporations. However, both plans remain largely on paper,
primarily because of this hesitation to attempt such a complex intervention. What has been
achieved in Bhuj is proof that such interventions are possible.
How it was financed
Preparation of the town planning schemes and implementation of infrastructure construction
are financed through the technical consultancy component of the ADB loan. About 30 percent
of the cost is being borne by the Government of Gujarat from its main budget and about 30
percent is being passed on to the plot owners through the levy of betterment charges.
Lessons learned
Town planning schemes are a legislative mechanism with which the government physically
reorganizes parcels of land in a given jurisdiction, retaining a small portion of land from each
plot to create new streets and open spaces. This is usually done at a citys edge, as a practical
maneuver in converting agricultural plots to urban use. But in Bhujs case, the legislative
instrument has been creatively used as a strategy to reorganize the walled citys morphology.
The precise significance in its application lies in the fact that a piece of urban legislation has
been reinterpreted and grafted in a rather an unusual manner to a citys historic core,
enabling its post-disaster reconstruction. The essential act of reinterpreting this piece of
legislation to suit a post-disaster urban context represents a considerable leap of faith, and
demonstrates the potential flexibility of urban regulations as catalysts of reconstruction.
Community Planning, Institution Building and Civil Society Initiatives
In February 2001, soon after the earthquake, EPC established an office in Bhuj in a tent at a
relief camp operated by Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan (KNNA), a collective of NGOs

operating in Kutch. In collaboration with TCGI and with support from the USAID-FIRE
Project, EPC initiated pilot planning work in a project that is known as Initiative for Planned
and Participatory Reconstruction (IPPR). The IPPR consisted of experiments in
participatory planning at three levels at the regional, urban community and rural community
levels. Bhuj was chosen as the site for working with the urban community.
Usually EPC prefers to interact with communities through a grassroots NGO with long term
interest in a community. However, initially there was no NGO active in the urban area on
reconstruction issues. KNNA was focused at that time on rural reconstruction. Therefore EPC
carried out a series of stakeholder consultations with the urban community in Bhuj, including
community groups, representatives of trade and industry, womens groups and NGOs. These
consultations led to the formulation of project proposals as well as advocacy initiatives. The
following section describes how IPPR contributed to the statutory development plan. Some
other significant activities are mentioned below.
Supporting the Bhuj Development Council
The activity
The Bhuj Development Council (BDC) was a dormant NGO which ten years earlier had
initiated city development activities with a vision. After the earthquake, EPC interacted with
some of the key people of BDC regularly through the entire planning process. In December
2001, BDC regrouped and became active, initially with a confrontationist posturing. Through
sustained interaction, this changed and BDC became the most important civil society partner
in the process. EPC provided technical support to BDC consistently for a period of over one
year and continues to interact with them regularly.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation
During the preparation of the Draft Town Planning Schemes for the walled city, BDC set up
eight ward offices in the walled city, with staff and a computer. The plans were displayed in
the ward offices and people were assisted in filing objections and suggestions to the plans.
This helped improve the plan.
BDC has a special focus on a neighborhood in the walled city called Soniwad, where the
greatest number of people perished in the quake. Through BDCs efforts, Soniwad people
were able to interact effectively with planners to get their area planned the way they wanted.
Today BDC is one of the most important repositories of information, knowledge and
understanding both about the reconstruction process and disaster mitigation in Bhuj. They
have carried out advocacy on behalf citizens to the government and vice versa.
BDC is currently in the process of negotiating with the Bhuj Area Development Authority to
set up a city resource center for the continuing reconstruction process.
How it was financed
The technical support provided to BDC by EPC was funded by the USAID-FIRE Project
through the Initiative for Planned and Participatory Reconstruction. For other expenses, BDC
received grants from the Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan, that eventually decided to get involved
in urban reconstruction.
Lessons learned
In a process that involves persuading society at large to take decisions that require sacrifices
in the present for future benefits, it is important to involve local institutions with a broad
vision and a long term stake in the citys development. If such organizations dont exist or the

existing ones are weak, then it is worth the effort to support and build them. This pays rich
dividends in the long term.
Compiling a Book on the Cultural History of Bhuj
The activity
Through the IPPR project, the EPC is compiling a book on the cultural history of Bhuj.
Written by scholars from Bhuj and edited by the author of this paper, the book will showcase
and analyze the rich heritage of Bhuj not just architectural, but a variety of aspects of life in
the city. The compilation of the manuscript is well under way. Over 400 old photographs
have been collected and annotated; dozens of people interviewed and documents relating to
Bhujs history and culture researched.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation
Bhuj is a city that has been affected by three earthquakes in recent history: 1819, 1956 and
2001. Each time, Bhuj has risen again. However, this time, there is a great opportunity to
make the reconstruction an occasion for retrospection, introspection and forward vision. We
believe that disaster mitigation need not be perceived merely as a technical exercise about
building better foundations or widening streets. The book, written primarily by the people of
Bhuj, hopes to help citizens place themselves in perspective in the continuum of history,
understand holistically their identity in the context of the citys identity and envision where
they wish to take their city.
On a more mundane note, the book will be a practical resource book for economic
development initiatives that focus on heritage and tourism. It will also be of help in
identifying and prioritizing heritage properties that need protection against future disasters.
The book, it is hoped, will set in motion the process of packaging commercially viable
heritage conservation and adaptive reuse projects.
How it was financed
Manuscript compilation has been funded through the USAID-FIRE Project Initiative for
Planned and Participatory Reconstruction. Funding for printing and marketing is being
sought.
Lessons learned
The book is another example of the convergence of ideas and initiatives by different
individuals and organizations in Bhuj. It demonstrates how a small strategic investment by an
aid agency can produce tremendous spin-off benefits.
A Musical Concert, the Creation of a Cultural Forum and Establishment
of a Cultural Precinct
The activity
Our forays into the architectural and cultural heritage of Bhuj led us to the conclusion that
building a serious activity with heritage as focus would require the creation of a platform to
bring together the living exponents of the cultural traditions of Bhuj and its region. One of the
strategies tried was the organization of cultural programs in locations of architectural heritage
value. The first such event was held in raghunathji no aaro, a historic lakefront location. A
concert of traditional Kutchi music was held there with the active involvement of the Bhuj
municipality and the support of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA).

The munic ipality helped by cleaning up the aaro, a 30-feet-wide series of steps leading
down to the lake that was turned overnight into an open-air theater. GSDMA contributed
money to cover some of the expenses.
Following the concert, there was an upsurge of interest in the concept of cultural heritage.
Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan pitched in to support the idea. The result was a series of group
consultations leading to formalization of a pan-Kutch cultural forum called Kutch Sanskriti
Manch.
The next stage of proposed activit ies is the establishment of a cultural precinct at Patwadi
Gate, a heritage location in the walled city of Bhuj. There are several heritage buildings close
to the lakefront. These include Fateh Mohammed no Khordo, named after a great Kutchi
statesman; the Nani ba ni Pathshala, once a poetry school that trained eminent poets of
Gujarat, an old courthouse and other smaller buildings, most owned by the government of
Gujarat. The EPC has conceptualized a project to turn this area into a heritage/cultural
precinct that can house tourism-oriented economic activities such as traditional arts and
crafts, facilities for training in traditional music and performance. This is being packaged as a
viable public -private partnership.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation
The Kutch Sankriti Manch is relevant to disaster mitigation in two ways. First, as mentioned
in the previous section, there is a need to build on heritage tourism as an economic activity
both to protect heritage resources and support the citys economy. Second, for a society to
internalize ideas such as planning, mitigation and management, there are no better media
than elements of tradition and culture. A facility such as the proposed Patwadi
Heritage/Cultural Precinct can effectively showcase heritage and cultural resources and focus
attention on the need to conserve them.
How it was financed
The technical support provided by the EPC so far has been a pro bono effort. Funding is
being sought. KNNA is expected to source funding initially for the activities of the Kutch
Sankriti Manch. Eventually it is expected that they will build the capacity to find their own
funding.
Lessons learned
The concert at raghunathjinoaaro was a great learning experience in how people can rally
around a simple event and how such events can be leveraged to generate a movement.
Supporting Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan in Reviving the Hamirsar Lake System
The activity
In the development plan for Bhuj, the EPC proposed the traditional system of interlinked
water bodie s and water channels that at one time used to fill Hamirsar Lake. This proposal
was inspired by a geologist at Sahjeevan, one of the member organizations of the KNNA.
While the development plan was being implemented, Sahjeevan began working on selected
channels of the Hamirsar catchments, utilizing leftover funds from a reconstruction project
for watershed management structures. HCP Design and Project Management Ltd., a sister
concern of EPC, helped Sahjeevan conceptualize a lakefront development project for
Hamirsar. Subsequently Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan and Sahjeevan along with the Gujarat
Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE) and EPC conceived a comprehensive project to revive
the catchments of the Hamirsar, with multiple components including ecological revival,

rainwater harvesting, parks and gardens, and urban design. EPC provides technical assistance
in macro-level planning, land inventory, physical planning strategies, project formulation and
architectural design.
How the activity promotes disaster mitigation
The revival of the Hamirsar catchments ensures that the lake fills up each year, boosting
groundwater recharge. The project expects to achieve ecological restoration in and around the
water bodies and other parts of the catchments. An immediate visible impact would be the
return of bird life, native and migratory. The project would create multiple opportunities for
Bhuj citizens to enjoy the waterfront for leisure, recreation as well as traditional occupations
such as dhobi ghats (laundry areas designed not to pollute). This would achieve a larger and
more important goal of improving the manner in which citizens relate to and value urban
water bodies.
How it was financed
The initial explorations by EPC on this subject were part of the development plan project
funded by GUDC. KNNA funded internally its own efforts. Sahjeevan (including EPCs and
GUIDEs costs) paid for its work from grants received from national and international
agencies for watershed management. Ecological restoration projects are being funded through
current efforts to conceptualize and plan the project. The Government of India through the
Prime Ministers Office will fund the cost of implementing the capital works.
Lessons learned
Again, this is an example of participatory planning and small strategic investments that
gradually emerge as independently-funded, significant projects. The importance of involving
and supporting local organizations is also reinforced by the experience of the Hamirsar
project.
Consolidation of Lessons Learned
Investments in Mapping and Databases
Strategic investments by aid agencies in mapping and databases can help to build capacity in
local agencies to undertake disaster mitigation and thus reduce future aid requirements. It is
important for the main local government agency to create a unified base map that has
topographical, cadastral and thematic information and to persuade all agencies to work using
the same base map. It is also important to immediately publish such maps in hard and
electronic copies to enhance public awareness about the usefulness of such tools. The cost of
carrying out a survey is often seen as too expensive, whereas the future costs of planning
infrastructure without adequate information is never visible to the untrained eye.
Stakeholder Participation
The evolution of the planning and reconstruction process in Bhuj sufficiently proves the
value of investing strategically in kick-starting local initiatives through stakeholder
consultations and studies. However, the Bhuj experience also shows that participation is not
only about finding out what people want or giving them an opportunity to decide their future,
it is also about proactive efforts to sell ideas, build consensus and involve people in the
process. Participation can be made more effective by creating a platform/forum such as a
community resource center proposed by EPC. Once again, the importance of publishing
material cannot be over-emphasized.
The experience of working with the Bhuj Development Council proves that it is important to
involve local institutions with a broad vis ion and a long-term stake in a citys development.

If such organizations dont exist or the existing ones are weak, then it is worth the effort to
support and build them.
Planning and Legislative Framework
Comprehensive, multi-sectoral plans for the overall development of the city must be made
mandatory as a precursor to any major city level infrastructure development project. It is
worth considering the amendment of the town planning act to introduce special provisions for
disaster-affected areas and changing laws, rules, procedures and conventions to increase
speed and flexibility. The manner in which the town planning scheme mechanism in the
Town Planning Act was reinterpreted to suit a post-disaster urban context represents a
considerable leap of faith, and demonstrates the potential flexibility of urban regulations as
catalysts of reconstruction
The regulation system needs to be thoroughly revamped to better define the roles and
responsibilities of the professionals involved and to rationalize building standards. As in
other activities, it is important to widely publicize the planning process to enable meaningful
public participation.
Design and Pricing of Infrastructure
The Bhuj experience reveals that it is possible to design disaster-resistant infrastructure and
that cost is not prohibitive. In the case of Bhuj, the entire reconstruction project is given
practically free of cost. In future mainstream projects, it would be important to estimate the
addit ional cost of mitigation and include this in cost recovery proposals.
Investing in Innovation
The book on the cultural history of Bhuj, the concert at raghunathji no aaro, the creation of
the Kutch Sanskriti Manch and the mobilization of the Hamirsar project are all examples of
the convergence of ideas and initiatives by different individuals and organizations. All of
these projects demonstrate how small strategic investments in participatory planning by aid
agencies can evolve into independently-funded, significant projects.

REFERENCES
1. EERI. 2001. Special earthquake report: earthquake in Gujarat, India, January 26,
2001. Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, EERI Web site at www.eeri.org
2. Performance of buildings during the 2001 Bhuj earthquake Jag Mohan Humar, David
Lau, and Jean-Robert Pierre
http://www.rurkiu.ernet.in/acads/depts/earthquake/bhuj/index.html]