Tremor-hit Koyna farmers demand stronger houses

Tremor-hit Koyna farmers demand stronger houses
SHAILESH GAIKWAD

KOYNANAGAR, OCT 2: They have survived 1,175 tremors since 1975, the recent one on September 5. The farmers in the Koyna region of Patan taluka have learnt to live with earthquakes.

"We are used to these shocks now. Whenever there are tremors, we run out of the houses alongwith our children and cattle. It has become our habit,"says Baliram Sakpal, a farmer in Ghonbi, one of the most affected villages in the area.

According to the seismic data of the Koyna region, since 1963 the total number of shocks recorded till September 5, was 102681 of which 1,175 were felt. Maximum tremors were felt in 1973 (108) and 1980 (124). This year, the region has experienced 21 shocks while the recorded tremors are 2014 as against 1974 during the last year.

Panic gripped the area after quake of the magnitude of 5.2 on Richter Scale hit Patan on September 5. According to the revenue department figures, 112 villages were affected. Walls of 535 houses collapsed while the same of 147 developed cracks. No human casualty was reported but the total loss was estimated to be Rs 30 lakh. Villagers say the figures are under-estimated and the loss is much more than recorded by the administration.

The peasants in Ghonbi village or the residents of Koynanagar, a colony situated below the dam are worried but not frightened. Bhookampa tar yenarach. Thyachya bheetine goan ka sodayacha? (Quake is sure to strike someday. But why should we leave our village for that?),"asks 70-year-old Sadashiv Patil, former police patil of the village who has been a witness to the nature's fury over the years.

Bhausaheb Mudholkar, a government employee in Koynanagar, reacted in a similar way when asked if they wanted the government to shift outside the Koyna region.

Few of the residents have sought the help of the administration to shift them to safe places but majority wants to stay where they are. The reason behind their reluctance to shift is their emotional attachment to their farms and ancestral houses.

"How can we leave our ancestral farms and houses?" Patil asks.

The farmers complain not against the nature but the government.

Days after a quake hit the area on September 5, a survey was undertaken to assess the extent of damage to the houses, informed Sakpal. "The attitude of the administration is irritating. After the quake hit the area alongwith Latur in October 1993, it was decided to strengthen 64,000 houses in quake prone Patan taluka. So far, only 20,000 houses have been reconstructed. Most of the 44,000 houses, made up of mud and bricks, are under the danger of collapse if a quake of the magnitude of more than 5 on the Richter scale hits the region," said an elected representative of the Nationalist Congress Party who pleaded anonymity for political reasons.

Further, the administration selects the houses for strengthening only after major cracks appear on the walls. Since most of the houses in the area are made of mud, the cracks are not visible on walls. "Continuous tremors weaken the walls from outside and a major shock or even slightest of rain razes down such structures. This has become a major problem of the farmers in the area but the administration is not acknowlegding it," he added.

The casualty will be high if the government neglects the need to strengthen the houses before the quake strikes again, he said.

Maybe, the repeated complaints from the people has woken up the administration. A fortnight ago, Minister for Irrigation and District's Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar conducted a meeting of the revenue, irrigation and police officials to review the emergency machinery needed to tackle the situation if quake strikes in a big way. The officials decided to conduct a drill within a few days.

Talking to this paper, Pawar said Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, in a meeting on Koyna on Tuesday last, had directed the administration to take up the strengthening of houses on a priority basis.