Halfway House

IT was to be a tribute to those who died in the Latur earthquake on September 30, 1993. But this crumbling memorial in stone is less of a tr...

IT was to be a tribute to those who died in the Latur earthquake on September 30, 1993. But this crumbling memorial in stone is less of a tribute and more a grim reminder of the earthquake.

Work on the memorial was launched by then chief minister Narayan Rane. The plaque at the building reads: to be finished8212;31.5.99. Five years past that deadline and the memorial is still only half done.

The cost of the project was initially pegged at Rs 58.41 lakh Rs 23.41 lakh for the memorial and Rs 35 lakh for an accompanying museum. But the state has already spent about Rs 70 lakh, says project contractor Nitin Kalayani.

He says he had completed the project but since he was not given the project for its maintenance, it was vandalised even as it was being completed. He adds: 8216;8216;The state of the structure is an insult to the memory of those who died in the earthquake.8217;8217;

THE museum was supposed to house the memories of that day. Things found in the debris, a prototype of the ravaged Killari and surrounding villages, an information kiosk on earthquakes, gadgets that track earthquakes and graphic depictions of earthquakes the world over. But all that remains grounded in ideas.

The structure has been vandalised even before its completed. The window grills, its glass panes, the doors have all been taken by the villagers. A colony of bats have made the structure their home.

Located almost 700 km to the east of Mumbai on an acre of plot, the crumbling structure stands in the wilderness. The relocated Killari village is almost 50 km away from the proposed museum.

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Accessibility to the museum is another factor that was not considered when the plan was laid out. There is no public transport and few villagers will be keen to hire a car to make the trip to the museum.

Bureaucrat Johnny Joseph, who was officer on special duty to the Earthquake Rehabilitation Cell that undertook the project, expresses surprise at the state of the structure. 8216;8216;According to the original plan the gram panchayat was handed over its maintenance. We have to work out a way to revamp the project,8217;8217; said Joseph. Incumbent secretary of the Earthquake Rehabilitation Cell, K S Vatsa defends his department.

8216;8216;We handed over the project to the department of Archeology. Other departments too were to monitor the maintenance. It is a community project so the villagers have to be responsible for it,8217;8217; said Vatsa. He is yet to visit the 8216;museum8217;.