Winnipegger amid ruins near ground zero
January 28, 2001 12:00:00
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From the Winnipeg Free Press.
Winnipeg businessman Hemant Shah stood amid the rubble of Bhuj yesterday, listening to the calls of those trapped beneath the concreate, and found himself speechless.
"There are no words I can express", Shah said yesterday from Bombay, where he is staying. "Its devastating.
"I can hear people shouting in the rubble. 'Water! Water! Water!'"
Shah, chairman of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce's India trade committee, was in India on business when the earthquake hit. He travelled to Bhuj, just kilometres from the epicentre of Friday's quake, to see what kind of help is needed.
"They need woollen blankets, they need structural engineers, they need orthopedic surgeons," Shah said. Temperatures have been dipping to 13 C at night, and most survivors are sleeping outside.
Shah said there isn't enough equipment to clear all the concrete that's fallen and many people have fractures from the fallout.
Philip Maher, an aid worker with World Vision who graduated from Provindence College in Ottweburne, south of Winnipeg, said their main efforts have been trying to get people fed.
Maher was two hours way from getting on a plane in Bombay, on his way home to Canada, when the quake hit and he was diverted to Bhuj.
"The city was 95 per cent affected. One third of the buildings were destroyed. The ones that aren't are missing a wall, gates, fences. The rest have cracks all the way through them," Maher said yesterday from India. "A large portion of the buildings are uninhabitable. There's a huge pile of rubble, and underneath there's hundreds, if not thousands, of remains of people and they're beginning to rot, to decay."
While aid organizations have already begun to collect money for victims of the disaster, Shah is appelaing to the Winnipeg business community to help.
"As Winnipeggers, we help everybody, if we can help," Shah said. "Everyone here wants to help, but they're helpless."
Shah plans on returning to the devastated area in a few days, with a local Kutchi youth group, to bring blankets, water and other supplies.
Shah has also been in contact with the local Indian community in Winnipeg. The Hindu Society of Manitoba has begun to collect aid money, raising $28,000 at the launch of the relief fund Sunday night.
Bhadresh Batt, president of the Hindu Society, said Mayor Glen Murray has offered to help and a fund-raising dinner is being plannned.
Shelly Malyk, spokeswoman for the Red Cross in Winnipeg, said they just began counting their donations yesterday and were at $1,100 by the afternoon.
Kim Guttormson - Winnipeg Free Press |
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