The Earthquake Relief Programme- CHAI camp at Nandurga Village, Latur District, A report by Dr. Arvind Kasturi, 16/11/1993 has a schematic map at the end of the report.

Item

Title: The Earthquake Relief Programme- CHAI camp at Nandurga Village, Latur District, A report by Dr. Arvind Kasturi, 16/11/1993 has a schematic map at the end of the report.
extracted text: /.I9-

I

THE EARTHQUAKE RELIEF PROGRAMME -CHAI
LATUR DISTRICT, A REPORT ♦
♦
*
*

®

CAMP AT NANDURGA VILLAGE

Description of the camp and background
Situational Analysis on 1—11—93
The Shift in Focus and new direction
The Initial Efforts

DESCRIPTION AND BACKGROUND

An Earthquake occured on 30-Cty-93 measuring 6.6 on the Richter
Scale with its epicentre at Killari town in Latur district,
Maharashtra.

See

for Schematic Map.

Relief Work commenced immediately with assistance from the po1 ice
and Army depts.The response by the Maharashtra Govt was also timely
and substantial.
The Catholic Hospital Association of India (CHAI) and Sanghi Group
of Indus tr ies, Hyderabad set up a relief camp on the 10th of October
at Nandurga village about 15-20 Kms from Ki11 ari.Re 1ief work
initially was hampered by heavy rain which stopped around the 20th
of October.
From the Governmental side,fo11owing the initial hunt for survivors
and bodies,the people of the region were resettled into temporary
shelters made of metal sheets.Water and elecricity were made
speedily available and food / clothing were distributed on a ration
system.

SITUATIONAL ANALYSTS

A team of 12 volunteers reached the camp on 1-11-93.The situation
a t that t ime was-a) Camp
The "Base Camp" consisted of a group of 4-5 tents with one large
tent used as a OPD/Pharmacy in addition to serving a residential
function .Messing and washing facilities were avai1ab1e.There were
about 40 volunteers at the camp at that time consisting of
-Doctors
-Nurses
-Pharrnac i st
-Seminarians and general volunteers
-Security guards and Helpers.
The camp was being coordinated by two persons f rom CHAI
Hyderabad.

I

b) The Work
Following the establishment of a base at Nandurga, a service
area of 7 villages was taken up with a population of 9000-10000.
The Initial Objectiyes of the camp were-

I.To provide Medical relief to the injured and the physically ill.
2.To provide Psychosocial

support to the mentally disturbed.

The method was

1.The personnel were divided into 3 Mobile teams which visited one
village each day and conducted relief Clinics there.

2.A daily Clinic was held at the Base Camp which would function as
a relief clinic for the surrounding area and as a "referral” clinic
for outreach teams.
3.Houses were visited during outreach visits and links were
established with the people with a view to provide psychological
support.

This strategy proved successful in the initial period with many
Orthopaedic and other major problems being tackled through the
network.
It also helped to
among the v i11 age
v i11 ages.

build up
folk and

the credibility of the CHAI e f fort
served as an entry point into the

Other activitites undertaken at the camp were-

-Distribution of Food and clothing received from Donors.

-Enumeration of the people of the service area on a house to
house basis,with the handing over of an Identity card to each
household to serve as a future identification mark.

With the passage of t ime ,

the follwing features were noticed.

I.The attendance at the Outpatient clinics was dropping.
2.The type of medical problems handled were changing from injuries
and
traumatic
conditions
to
more
psychosomatic
and
minor
prob 1ems.Al so,diseases needing educational inputs like Scabies and
gastroenteritis were being increasingly noticed.
3.There was a growing awareness among members of the team that the
baseline Health status of the people was poor.
There was a question then raised as to whether CHAI would want to
continue its efforts onto rehabilitation since that was the need
that was being perceived.

1

‘

THE SHIFT TN FOCUS

and senior members among
Fol lowing a discussion among coordinators
effort would continue
the camp staff.it was decided that the CHAI
HEALTH
of the population
int o the Rehabilitation phase with the
being the issue in focus.

to restore the Health
w a. s framed - to attempt
Hence a new goal was
Pre
disaster
1 eve 1s.Since there
status of the poulation served to 1.- of the population
bad been no ass es s ment done of the health status c. extent,but it
was arbitrary to that
be fore the quake, th is goal
perspective
of the Effort.
served to broaden the
the Primary Health Care
The SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES were f named within
framework.
Us i n£ + A v a i 1 a b 1 e Resource
♦ With the Cooperation of the Govt.,and
to the extent
* Par ti o ipat i ng with the people of the area
po s s i b 1 e .
The Object ives w e r <•

access
1.To ensure that al 1 people had
knowledge of safe water usage.

to

safe water

I <)

a

hytff' > n i <‘

2 . To ensure that
I ha I i»eo|.>lc hud
bathing and washing clothes.

a (* (* e s s

and had

f ac i1 i t y

a

for

educational situation
s i t uat i on (schools) in the vi11 age
3 T o a s s e s s t.I h e I< intervene where
appropriate
w 11h provis1 on of
i
rese111 emen t s; and
training
inputs to
phys i ca1 amenities (bl ackboard,chaik etc.)and L.--I.he teachers.
reach children
4.To ensure that Governmental Immunisation services
under 5 yrs and Antenatal mothers.
to a primary curative facility
5 . To e n s u r e that, peopl e had access
n e a. r their home.
Child Survival and
C.To improve knowledge regarding concepts in
Safe motherhood.
i n need using
7. To extend Psycbo1ogica1 support to the people
individual.group and mass therapy techniques.

■

THE INITIAL EFFORTS
With the framing of the new objectives,the method adopted was

-The Service area was divided into groups of 2-3 villages
-The personnel were divided into teams of 5-6 with at least one
doctor and one nurse in each team and the village groups were
allocated teamwise.
-The villages were mapped g i ving details of water sources, sanitary
fac i1 i t ies etc.
-The schoolteachers were interviewed,the schools visited and a spot
assessment made as to the need.

-Curative Clinics were to be conducted weekly at the villages, with
a day fixed for the purpose.The daily Clinic at the base camp would
continue unchanged.
-Under fives and Antenatal women were enumerated in each village
and their immunisation status assessed.Cooperative immunisation
sessions were held using the governmental infrastructure with the
team acting as motivator,educator and facilitator.
’■

Health Education sessions were held on topics ranging from water
borne diseases to hygiene during pregnancy.

-House visits
cont i nued.

wi th

counsel 1ing

and

psycho logical

support

were

With the new strategy being launched, and an information base
slowly being built up through rigorous documentation, the team that
reached on November 1st 1993 left on the 14th of November 1993 with
the hope that the camp would continue its rehabilitative effort and
put the people back on the road to health.

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