Life inside monuments of fear

There are thousands like Dhamabai in the 52 rehabilitated villages in Latur district who have not shed their fear of stone since the quake brought down their homes. On Tuesday, they will gather to pay homage to their near and dear ones — 7,928 according to official figures — who did not survive the Latur quake.

Fear of stone was so strong that people slept outside their houses for almost a year following the earthquake. Houses that were seismically strengthened were either uninhabited, used as storage places or lived in only during the day, says the Maharashtra Emergency Earthquake Rehabilitation Programme manual published sometime in 1994. And it has not changed even in September 2003.

Five years after the quake, a joint survey by Indian Council for Medical Research and Maharashtra Institute of Mental Health found psychological disorders in one among every third survivor. The stats have not changed.

One-third quake survivors still suffer from depression, says Shekar, faculty member at Department of Psychiatric Social Work at Bangalore-based NIMHANS.

Behavioural pattern studies in rehabilitated villages during the initial years had identified an increase in alcoholism and other addictions. Besides several psychological disorders and even cases of pseudo-pregnancies have been reported.

A recent survey in the quake-hit region shows that the number of people suffering from nightmares is still very high. Shekar prescribes a three-pronged approach to tackle psychological problems.

* Don’t look at survivors as mentally ill. This is a normal reaction to an abnormal happening.

* Create teams of active listeners. These would give relief to older people.

* Sensitise grassroots health care system and institutionalise mental care in the community.

Though the state government claims the entire visible infrastructure is in place, people disagree. Many complain that the houses that were built as part of rehabilitation programmes hardly suit their needs. Water shortage, broken roads, the fear of more quakes add to their worries. The region still experiences frequent tremors — the last one was just a month-and-a-half ago.