Killari earthquake management can help India face any natural disaster, says Sharad Pawar

The administrative system to face any natural disaster in the country with confidence stemmed from the effective disaster management during the 1993 Killari earthquake in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who helmed the state at that time, said.

During the 30th-anniversary event commemorating the earthquake in Latur district, Sharad Pawar also reflected on the coordinated efforts of the state government and the Central government in mobilizing resources for the extensive rehabilitation work that followed the disaster. The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.2-6.3, struck several villages in Latur and Osmanabad districts on the early hours of September 30, 1993, resulting in the tragic loss of over 8,000 lives and injuries to 16,000 individuals.

Currently, India can face any kind of disaster confidently as the country has an effective administrative system in place which originated from the Killari earthquake. The country learned the lesson of disaster management from this massive disaster, said Pawar. He said the UN and the World Bank had taken cognizance of this management. We gained experience from the Killari earthquake and now we have the strength to deal with future natural crises Also the strength of the disaster management law, the NCP chief added.

Recalling the sequence of events, Pawar said (Ganpati) immersion processions were going on the night of September 29, 1993. A chief minister should not sleep unless the immersion processions are over. I received a call from the Parbhani superintendent of police at around 3:45 AM informing me that immersion was completed, after which I went to sleep. Suddenly at around 3:55 AM, the windows and furniture shook. I felt an earthquake. I immediately alerted officials. Later, it emerged that Killari village (in Latur district) was the epicentre, he said.

Pawar said he immediately called up a seismic activities monitoring centre in Koyna (in Satara district). They told me the epicentre of the quake was Killari in Latur district in the Marathwada region. I immediately asked officials to wake up my Cabinet colleagues Vilasrao Deshmukh and Padamsinh Patil and the state chief secretary. I also asked them to get a plane ready to take them to Latur at 6 in the morning (September 30).

Pawar said the scenes of the tragedy were devastating. I have never seen any natural disaster of this scale. It was heart-wrenching. Bodies were lying, houses lay in ruins, and people were wailing in pain, he recalled. Pawar said he realised that rehabilitation is possible only if all the resources of the state are pulled in and officials from the neighbouring districts were roped in.