The all pervasive smell reminds one of a cremation ground that too on a busy day. The town has actually been reduced to one, with the authorities having ordered that anybody found henceforth should be cremated on the spot in the presence of a doctor, revenue officer and a videographer. Mass cremations have become common. Today itself, nearly 50 bodies were cremated.

After the hysteria over the dead is over, it is the living who have become the prime concern. But the disillusionment is all pervasive. ``I am not going to let my family stay here. It is not safe at all. On one side is the LPG, the other side is the ammonia tanks and facingus is the dangerous sea,'' said Lakshman, whose father is a casual labourer at the Kandla Port.

Panic was evident as he described the last few moments before the killer tidal wave struck. Strong winds had started and the intensity was so strong that children were flung metres away. ``I helped as many people onto the roof as possible. But most in my colony perished,'' he said.

The panic is laced with anger. ``We have got no support from the Kandla Port Trust. Whatever work is being done is by voluntary organisations and the BSF. After the mishap, not once did the officials come and visit us,'' he said. The anger about the KPT not issuing adequate warnings is particularly strong.

Despondency more than grief is the most common emotion. ``I searched for the bodies of my seven family members who had died, but could not find the bodies of my parents. Now I have given up,'' said Umar Usmani, who worked in Kutch Salts Limited and is the sole survivor. ``My mother died,'' said a seven-year-old girl, washing theitems retrieved from the rubble.

Meanwhile, a woman from Radhanpur survived with serious injuries but 36 members of her family perished. They were casual labourers in the port. The bodies of a woman and her baby were brought they had died while the baby was suckling.

However, the focus has now changed to removal of the dead, both men and animals. Related to it is the fear which persists in their minds: that of an epidemic which becomes almost inevitable in such situations.

``There is every chance of an epidemic breaking out because of the stagnant sea-water, unremoved bodies and animal carcasses,'' said Dr Avashia, who is a general practitioner in the local Tarba hospital. Adding to threat is tonnes of food grain rotting in the warehouses. Already, there have been cases of gastroenteritis and viral fever.

District Magistrate Mukesh Puri said they had started spraying DDT and gamaxene powder as a precautionary measure. The KPT has constituted a team under the port health officer and a sanitaryinspector to examine the grain in the warehouses. ``But most probably we will have to dump it in the sea or burn the entire stock worth Rs 40 to 50 crore,'' said the traffic officer.

But the sprays were few and far between and the scare of an epidemic is driving the entire town away. In the port colony, 150 of the 250 families have vacated their houses. There are another 450 quarters which look completely abandoned. And these are buildings where the loss of life and property were the minimum. ``Nobody has come here to do any spraying. If it were election time, leaders would have come asking for votes,'' said Bashir Anasari.

Apart from the residents of Kandla, others facing tremendous stress are the crew of the seven ships that have grounded, and four that are floating after being de-anchored. ``It makes it even worse for us because it was just chance that brought us here on that day,'' said one of the 22 members of a Romanian crew, who are now camping in the local hotel.

Another ship from Bahamas,Clipper Kawa, which was carrying benzonide for Venezuela, had a casualty on board. It took two days to get help. Second engineer Theinanj had fallen in the cyclone and fractured his thigh bone. It was only today that he was able to come ashore to be taken to Bhuj for treatment. The local government hospital did not have the necessary facilities.