Himalaya Trust

Details of the Work Done by the Committees

1. Chetna Andolan

The colleague of Chetna Andolan, Trepan Singh Chauhan, with others, all went to the villages of Chaura and Bhatwari in Tehri Garhwal, In these two villages five persons died and ten were injured, while 80% of the houses were destroyed. The true picture of these villages was conveyed through the media to the government and NGOs. Then through individual efforts, help from OXFAM was secured with the provision of 750 tin sheets to 62 families in 4 villages which were supplied on the basis of prioritisation. In this programme all the members of Samvedna participated in full measure.

2. Parvatiya Nav Jeevan Mandal, Silyara

Devendra Bahuguna, who is a worker of Parvatiya Nav Jeevan, proceeded to the earthquake-affected areas on 29/3/99. On seeing a large number of people at Chaura, he proceeded directly to Rudraprayag to make an assessment of the various earthquake-affected areas. He had considerable experience in the 1991 earthquake, and in the 1998 landslides, he had also done a great deal of relief work. Wherever he went, he raised the morale of the people and formed committees of the villagers who would undertake the task of distribution on receipt of relief material on determining priority needs of the affected people. From March 29 to April 2, 1999, he carried out an intensive tour of the affected areas of Rudraprayag district and prepared a detailed report. On April 30, he went to Gaundar and then to Gaid where 57 houses had been totally destroyed. In this way after touring various earthquake-affected villages, he reached Makkoo village where also 52% of the houses had been destroyed, killing four people. In this village all the houses of the Harijan families had been destroyed. After completing a quick survey, he reached Chaura village.

By April 10, the students of Parvatiya Nav Jeevan Mandal, Silyara, and some college students, along with the members of Astha Parivar, had reached Chaura village. They found that there was deep gloom all around. The people were full of fear -- all the people were anxiously awaiting relief parties. All the village youth were reluctant to join in the first three days, but after being encouraged by our work and efforts, they joined in working With us. The impact of our physical work was such that we gained the confidence of the village people and our friendship ties increased. Apart from the voluntary work we shared with the affected families, we also shared meals and a programme of prayers with them. The people started joining us in carrying out early morning circumambulation of the village and in morning and evening prayers. With this, bonds of closeness grew. There was an increase in stability in the life and work of the people who started reconstruction work on their houses. The people's confidence grew on their own ability to achieve rather than depending upon relief groups from outside. In villages where until April 12, only women were visible, by April 17-18 those villagers who had out of fear fled from their own village to other villages, began to return. Where there were only 10 of us, 22 additional youth of the village joined us in our work. In this way the people who fled their villages to roadsides immediately after the earthquake in quest of the flood of relief, began to return on seeing our relief work in their villages. These people began earnestly to work for rebuilding their own houses. During these ten days, 12 of our fellow workers did physical work along with 50 families.

While our relief work gave us the opportunity to serve in a disaster situation, it also enabled us to get to know the villages and the humane aspects of the inhabitants. In the beginning, in view of our coming without any relief material but with only patience for working, there were occasional feelings of disappointment and anger, but this soon disappeared and we became united. Until April 2, the support of Darab bhai of 'Prakriti' was very helpful to us.

Through the efforts of our co-workers in the Chetna Andolan, OXFAM of Delhi provided 750 tin sheets for Chaura village which has only 67 families. On April 20, Trepan Singh Chauhan brought these tin sheets and by then our co-workers erected sheds with the help of wood from people's houses so that the people could be sheltered from the rains and wild animals. Through their own labour, the villagers carried the tin sheets for a distance of 20 kms and by joint decision the villagers, distributed 145 of these 750 tin sheets in four other villages among 28 most needy families. In Chaura village, 67 families were each given nine tin sheets and the remaining 145 sheets were distributed among the most needy widows, orphans and poor harijan families in the villages of Bhatwari, Malyakot, Dogi, and Mahar. This work may not appear to be very significant, but the fact is that those villages and their inhabitants about whom aspersions were being cast that they were quarreling among themselves for relief material or were cringing before relief agencies, were the very ones who were readily providing tin sheets to the other afflicted villages, although these tin sheets had been earmarked only for Chaura village.

3. Prakriti

On behalf of Prakriti, Darab Nagarwalla brought a team of 16 boys from the Woodstock School, Mussoorie, along with his six-month old daughter, Vanalika. This team arrived at Chaura village on April 2, 1999. The earthquake had flattened every house in this village and the people were sitting dumbfounded outside their ruined houses. In the whole village, the people were bemoaning the loss of lives and were in despair over the loss of their houses. All the property of the people was covered by rubble, but out of fear they did not dare to retrieve them, while all the village lanes had been completely obstructed. At this time, the team carried out rebuilding work through their own labour, while all the villagers were waiting for government assistance, with their self-confidence having been shattered. At this time this team through physical labour retrieved the buried property of the villagers In Chaura and Bhatwari villages and cleared the village lanes. Till April 4, this team worked in this area which raised the people's faith and the fear that had gripped them disappeared.

4. Astha Parivar

Youth having strong conviction in social work held meetings after the earthquake in different areas. On April 2, they assembled at Kausani under the leadership of Radha Behn where there was a meeting of 'Gandhi Yuva Parivar'. There the Astha Parivar members resolved to undertake labour work in the affected areas. Three of the members, Jitendra Sharma and Shobha Negi of Mussoorie, and Bhuvan Pathak of Garur (Baijnath) proceeded from Baijnath to the affected areas and interacted with fellow workers enroute and reached Mussoorie on April 7, 1999, where from April 6 to 8 at a meeting of the Astha Parivar they took stock of the work and survey carried out by various co-workers. Bhuvan Pathak was authorised to suitably utilise for survey the donation of Rs.1,000/= by Mahipal Singh of Hariyali and Rs.300/= by Jitendra Sharma of Society for Integrated Development of the Himalayas (SlDH). At the meeting held in Mussoorie, Devendra Bahuguna and Darab Nagarwalla were present and they related their experiences of the earthquake relief work undertaken so far. At this meeting, it was decided to work jointly and this resulted in the constitution of the 'Samvedna' programme.

On behalf of Astha, Bhuvan Pathak and Raju Sharma proceeded to Chaura village and rendered assistance to villagers. On conclusion of the work at Chaura village, when the workers were returning, all the village people had tears in their eyes while bidding farewell to them.


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				Details of the Work Done by the Committees 1. Chetna Andolan The colleague of Chetna Andolan, Trepan Singh Chauhan, with others, all went to the villages of Chaura and Bhatwari in Tehri Garhwal, In these two villages five persons died and ten were injured, while 80% of the houses were destroyed. The true picture of these villages was conveyed through the media to the government and NGOs. Then through individual efforts, help from OXFAM was secured with the provision of 750 tin sheets to 62 families in 4 villages which were supplied on the basis of prioritisation. In this programme all the members of Samvedna participated in full measure. 2. Parvatiya Nav Jeevan Mandal, Silyara Devendra Bahuguna, who is a worker of Parvatiya Nav Jeevan, proceeded to the earthquake-affected areas on 29/3/99. On seeing a large number of people at Chaura, he proceeded directly to Rudraprayag to make an assessment of the various earthquake-affected areas. He had considerable experience in the 1991 earthquake, and in the 1998 landslides, he had also done a great deal of relief work. Wherever he went, he raised the morale of the people and formed committees of the villagers who would undertake the task of distribution on receipt of relief material on determining priority needs of the affected people. From March 29 to April 2, 1999, he carried out an intensive tour of the affected areas of Rudraprayag district and prepared a detailed report. On April 30, he went to Gaundar and then to Gaid where 57 houses had been totally destroyed. In this way after touring various earthquake-affected villages, he reached Makkoo village where also 52% of the houses had been destroyed, killing four people. In this village all the houses of the Harijan families had been destroyed. After completing a quick survey, he reached Chaura village. By April 10, the students of Parvatiya Nav Jeevan Mandal, Silyara, and some college students, along with the members of Astha Parivar, had reached Chaura village. They found that there was deep gloom all around. The people were full of fear -- all the people were anxiously awaiting relief parties. All the village youth were reluctant to join in the first three days, but after being encouraged by our work and efforts, they joined in working With us. The impact of our physical work was such that we gained the confidence of the village people and our friendship ties increased. Apart from the voluntary work we shared with the affected families, we also shared meals and a programme of prayers with them. The people started joining us in carrying out early morning circumambulation of the village and in morning and evening prayers. With this, bonds of closeness grew. There was an increase in stability in the life and work of the people who started reconstruction work on their houses. The people's confidence grew on their own ability to achieve rather than depending upon relief groups from outside. In villages where until April 12, only women were visible, by April 17-18 those villagers who had out of fear fled from their own village to other villages, began to return. Where there were only 10 of us, 22 additional youth of the village joined us in our work. In this way the people who fled their villages to roadsides immediately after the earthquake in quest of the flood of relief, began to return on seeing our relief work in their villages. These people began earnestly to work for rebuilding their own houses. During these ten days, 12 of our fellow workers did physical work along with 50 families. While our relief work gave us the opportunity to serve in a disaster situation, it also enabled us to get to know the villages and the humane aspects of the inhabitants. In the beginning, in view of our coming without any relief material but with only patience for working, there were occasional feelings of disappointment and anger, but this soon disappeared and we became united. Until April 2, the support of Darab bhai of 'Prakriti' was very helpful to us. Through the efforts of our co-workers in the Chetna Andolan, OXFAM of Delhi provided 750 tin sheets for Chaura village which has only 67 families. On April 20, Trepan Singh Chauhan brought these tin sheets and by then our co-workers erected sheds with the help of wood from people's houses so that the people could be sheltered from the rains and wild animals. Through their own labour, the villagers carried the tin sheets for a distance of 20 kms and by joint decision the villagers, distributed 145 of these 750 tin sheets in four other villages among 28 most needy families. In Chaura village, 67 families were each given nine tin sheets and the remaining 145 sheets were distributed among the most needy widows, orphans and poor harijan families in the villages of Bhatwari, Malyakot, Dogi, and Mahar. This work may not appear to be very significant, but the fact is that those villages and their inhabitants about whom aspersions were being cast that they were quarreling among themselves for relief material or were cringing before relief agencies, were the very ones who were readily providing tin sheets to the other afflicted villages, although these tin sheets had been earmarked only for Chaura village. 3. Prakriti On behalf of Prakriti, Darab Nagarwalla brought a team of 16 boys from the Woodstock School, Mussoorie, along with his six-month old daughter, Vanalika. This team arrived at Chaura village on April 2, 1999. The earthquake had flattened every house in this village and the people were sitting dumbfounded outside their ruined houses. In the whole village, the people were bemoaning the loss of lives and were in despair over the loss of their houses. All the property of the people was covered by rubble, but out of fear they did not dare to retrieve them, while all the village lanes had been completely obstructed. At this time, the team carried out rebuilding work through their own labour, while all the villagers were waiting for government assistance, with their self-confidence having been shattered. At this time this team through physical labour retrieved the buried property of the villagers In Chaura and Bhatwari villages and cleared the village lanes. Till April 4, this team worked in this area which raised the people's faith and the fear that had gripped them disappeared. 4. Astha Parivar Youth having strong conviction in social work held meetings after the earthquake in different areas. On April 2, they assembled at Kausani under the leadership of Radha Behn where there was a meeting of 'Gandhi Yuva Parivar'. There the Astha Parivar members resolved to undertake labour work in the affected areas. Three of the members, Jitendra Sharma and Shobha Negi of Mussoorie, and Bhuvan Pathak of Garur (Baijnath) proceeded from Baijnath to the affected areas and interacted with fellow workers enroute and reached Mussoorie on April 7, 1999, where from April 6 to 8 at a meeting of the Astha Parivar they took stock of the work and survey carried out by various co-workers. Bhuvan Pathak was authorised to suitably utilise for survey the donation of Rs.1,000/= by Mahipal Singh of Hariyali and Rs.300/= by Jitendra Sharma of Society for Integrated Development of the Himalayas (SlDH). At the meeting held in Mussoorie, Devendra Bahuguna and Darab Nagarwalla were present and they related their experiences of the earthquake relief work undertaken so far. At this meeting, it was decided to work jointly and this resulted in the constitution of the 'Samvedna' programme. On behalf of Astha, Bhuvan Pathak and Raju Sharma proceeded to Chaura village and rendered assistance to villagers. On conclusion of the work at Chaura village, when the workers were returning, all the village people had tears in their eyes while bidding farewell to them. Next Section >> Page last updated: Sunday, February 13, 2000 274/II Vasant Vihar Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh 248 006 India Tel: 91.135.773081 Fax: 91.135.620334 Email: [email protected]