Creating order from chaos of destruction

Sometimes God’s will is unfathomable. In a matter of seconds, everything around tumbled down like a house of cards. We were left with empty lands to lie down upon and open skies to tuck ourselves in, till horizon met our eyes. Whatever we had saved and collected for our households in a span of four decades had now turned to ruins.

Shri. Damaji bhai, current Sarpanch of Chapredi in Kutch, Gujarat, could not recollect these memories of the earthquake which hit 22 years back, with tears welling up in his eyes. But as soon as he looks at the pucca houses, wide roads, impressive school building, Panchayat Bhavan and a huge beacon of hope- temple of Mata Rani in the center of Atal Nagar; he gathers himself to proudly narrate the story of transformation of the village from being Chapredi to turning into Atal Nagar. Do you know this incredible tale of transformation? 14 such villages which were reduced to garbage dumbs due to this catastrophic earthquake were rehabilitated by Sewabharti Gujarat with the help of Sewabharti International. Chaparedi is one of these rehabilitated villages which were transformed into well-equipped towns like Atal Nagar.

On 26th January 2001, when the entire country was engrossed in Republic Day celebrations, the Kutch district of Gujarat was shook  to its core by a catastrophic earthquake at 8:46 a.m. Measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale, this earthquake which lasted for two minutes, took a death toll of 13805 lives. Hundreds of villages in Gujarat were affected, Chapredi was one of those.  300 families residing in this village had lost everything. 10 people lost their lives and the entire village had collapsed into ruins. But as they say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Volunteers of Sewa Bharati stood by the villagers and worked night and day to give them back almost everything that was lost, except the lives lost during earthquake. Little away from the original location of Chapredi, the entire village was reconstructed on an empty piece of land. The Bhoomipoojan for the new village was done in 2001 and in 2004 it’s completion was marked by its Lokarpan.

This renewed village was also renamed to Atal Nagar. Mahesh bhai Ojha, the then RSS Vibhag Karyvaah of Kutch district, recalls that this transformation was by no means an easy task. Many villages like Chapredi had collapsed to ruins. Earthquake had wreaked havoc claiming numerous lives. And those who were even spared had a seemingly impossible battle for survival ahead of them. In such times it was crucial to reconstruct and repair the school buildings immediately so that education of students does not get affected. He recollects that 62 new school buildings were rebuilt in various distircts including Jamnagar, Banaskantha, and Patana along with 14 villages in Kutch.

We all know that it takes years, not days, to reconstruct a village. Between these two years of rehabilitation these RSS volunteers supported the villagers through every difficulty as they lived in temporary settlements, with makeshift beds and stone chullahs. * Prant Mantri Shri. Girish bhai tells that we not only provided these affected families with ration, utensils, bed and other essential supplies but also helped them reclaim confidence and self-respect.* Apart from a few technical experts, no one was hired externally for this reconstruction. Villagers themselves rebuilt their village. Everyone chipped in with whatever skills they had. This made them experience immense satisfaction and also helped them in earning wages at government rates. Once the work stated, the aroma of rotis cooking on these chullahs bore testimony to their hard work, self-respect  and soothed their anger.

Damaji bhai, present Sarpanch of Chapredi, feels eternally indebted to Sewa Bharati- Gujarat. He expresses that these God sent volunteers supported the villagers through happiness and sorrows, and reconstructed the beautiful village which is beyond our imagination. Maybe this is what we call “creating order from chaos of destruction”.

Contact :– Naranbhai Velani

Mo.No:- 9727732588, 9428294365