Context of the proposed activities
The MEDAIR survey team was directed
by the local NGO Gram Swaraj Sangh to several villages on the fringes of
the Rapar area where no blankets or plastic sheeting had yet been distributed.
In recent years the population of the area has experienced one catastrophe after another. In 1998 a cyclone tore through the area , followed by a two year drought which is ongoing and now the earthquake.
Rapar is in the largely barren area of Kutch (or Kachchh) in north west Gujarat.
Kutch consists of vast tracts of desert and marshland. The south and west is bordered by the Gulf of Kutch and the Arabian Sea. Besides the town of Rapar, the area is dotted with numerous small villages, interspersed with tracts of uninhabited bush.
The rural settlements are occupied by various people groups, often tribal and from lower castes. Many of them have maintained a traditional way of life which has not fostered integration with the more prosperous towns nearby. The largest group, the Rabaris, are traditionally semi-nomadic, the men spend up to 10 months of the year seeking new grazing pastures with their livestock (sheep, goats or camels), while the women and children stay in the village. Milk and its products are their main source of income, though the women often engage in some form of handicraft such as embroidery.
Good quality roads bisect the area and irrigation is available in the central region. Most development has taken place around the more substantial population centres. However, away from the main roads, towns and industrial centres, services are less easily available or even nonexistent. Southeast from Rapar town lie the Kanmer villages, Fulpara, Bhimdevka and Pethapar. Due to underdevelopment in this particular area and the poor soil, the inhabitants have been hit hardest by the current drought. The 'pucca' houses - houses constructed from stone, mud and dung or cement, collapsed or suffered major damage due to the earthquake. An estimated 597 houses were destroyed in 8 villages.
In many of the villages visited all "pucca" housing was destroyed, due to their fragile nature with nothing remaining but heaps of rubble. Few people had started work on the ruins. Instead, a number of 'bhungas' were under construction - traditional structures made from sticks plastered with mud and cow dung and a thatched roof. The construction of these huts demonstrates the people's resilience and their determination to move on. Unfortunately, due to the drought and the harsh environment, there is not enough grass or natural material available to build sufficient numbers of huts for everyone.
MEDAIR's proposed programme
The programme aims to assist 400 tribal families living in the Kanmer villages by improving the condition of 350 traditional huts in time for the monsoon and constructing 400 permanent earthquake resistant 1 room houses. These villages lie in a remote area of Kutch, bordering the desolate desert Little Rann. Most inhabitants belong to the Koli caste. Normally they practise subsistence farming on marginal fields. However, due to the current drought, the men had been able to find work as cheap labour in the salt works in Bhachau or in charcoal production.
Some relief goods had found their way to the villages. However, no tents were observed anywhere. In conclusion, these people have been affected in numerous ways. Failing crops, loss of income and an increasing level of mortality among their livestock. On top of that the recent earthquake devastated almost 100% of their houses and much of their possessions. So they have no shelter for the long awaited monsoon.