Latur, Sept 28: Four years after a devastating earthquake rocked Latur and Osmananbad districts on September 30, 1993, rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the 52 affected villages is almost over.

Of the Rs 1,182 crore rehabilitation plan of Maharashtra government, the largest ever calamity rehabilitation operation undertaken in India, works worth Rs 1,023 crore have been completed, official sources told PTI, adding that the total work on the project was expected to be over by June next year.

Of the amount spent so far, Rs 107 crore came from donor organisations, Rs 38.40 crore from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund and the rest from various development agencies like World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

The `Killari Killer', called so because its epicentre was Killari village in Latur district, claimed 7928 lives. Over 16,000 people were injured in the quake. The damage to livestock and property was also considerable.

Altogether 15,847 cattle perished in the quake, while over 27,000 houses in these two districts came tumbling down like a pack of cards.

Besides these two districts, the quake left a trail of property destruction in 11 other districts including Beed, Parbhani, Nanded, Aurangabad, Solapur, Sangli, Satara, Pune, Kolhapur, Nashik and Ahmednagar.

Even as the rehabilitation work for the quake victims was in progress, the Maharashtra government formulated a state level emergency quake rehabilitation programme which was implemented from July 1994. The programme has received assistance from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Overseas Development Agency (ODA), Central and the State governments and the donor organisations.

The World Bank approved rehabilitation package stresses some points including housing, provision of basic amenities, financial and social rehabilitation and provision of technical training and equipment, the sources said.

The rehabilitation scheme comprises construction of 27,183 new houses in 27 villages of Latur and 25 villages in Osmanabad district. Of these, 23465 houses have been completed, the sources said, adding that work on 3603 houses was in progress. Of the 8223 houses undertaken for construction by various social organisations, work on almost all the houses has been completed.

Voluntary agencies working in the area have been provided various incentives like waiver of power and water supply charges. So far, 17,192 new houses have been handed over to people in 46 quake affected villages of Latur and Osmanabad districts. Work on renovation of houses which developed cracks due to the earthquake is also nearing completion.

Under the rehabilitation plan, 1730 hectares of land has been taken over to facilitate housing and other developmental activities.According to official sources, the WB has instructed that no new villages should be included under the present plan. The bank has also given directions to the state authorities ``not to increase the scope of the plan frequently,'' the sources added.

A critical component in implementing the plan successfully and as per schedule was that there should not have been frequent transfers of top bureaucrats, specially at the district level, responsible for supervising the plan. In reality, there were many instances where officers like the district collectors, who had begun to get the ``feel'' of things, were suddenly transferred.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.