Dear all,

thanks for all the immediate responses .It is very heart warming. Our team from Baroda left yesterday and have contacted us from Radhanpur. they had not selected the villages they will work in at that time. But they will definitely be in some of the interior villages of Bhachau - Kutch where no help has reached so far.

Besides stories such as the one in the IE yesterday - where a poor survivor (only 15 persons survived in his entire village) came to the main road in the hope of collecting relief from some truck that might pass by, being beaten to death by a group of Patels who were hoarding all relief material in their godowns, there are others where people are too ashamed to ask for relief and are therefore starving. It is most essential that we identify and support fully those who can be trusted to genuinely reach the needy.

Reconstruction will take time and will need to be done in consultation with the locals as per their needs and not as was done in latur and garhwal.

In the meantime, we require VOLUNTEERS who are ready to do any work, are physically fit and can spare a minimum of 1 week to 10 days. shorter periods make no sense at this stage.

In case u decide to go on ur own, i am advised that Sushma Iyengar at Madansi Park, Kutch Navnirman Abhiyan ,bhuj, is very helpful and reliable. Likewise-Nilpar Ashram at Bhachau , has Ramesh Saghvi . Bhachau taluka is where very little aid of any sort seems to have reached so far.

Better if u talk to 0265 - 382232 in baroda, before u leave - for the latest update.

I also personally feel that packing off stuff by trains because it is free may not be the answer as it goes only to the Dist. Collector and u are totally out of control. unless u can work a deal with the collector and he agrees to give the stuff to the group of ur choice working locally, it makes no sense. in the meantime,a bit of good news - the govt has allowed collections via NGO's for earthquake relief to be 100% tax free.

We made various enquiries abt. the feasibility of opening a separate bank account for earthquake relief in the name of Narmada Bachao Andolan Earthquake relief fund. It is not practical. We have therefore tied up with our usual , long term supporters.U can send donations to

'YUVA Earthquake Relief Fund ' . the account is in IDBI bank, prabhadevi br, Bombay.A/c No. 0 1 3 2 0 2 8 0 1 3 6 0 0.

DDs are preferable.We will need a covering letter addressed to YUVA, to state that this donation is for the NBA to use in their earthquake relief work.

CONTRIBUTORS FROM ABROAD - please note that your donations should be in the following name.

YUVA - Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action A/c 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 1 7 3 State Bank Of India ,Churchgate, Bombay. Swift transfer Code S B I N I N B B 1 9 6 .