The dead wait for firewood to arrive from other states

“There is a rising demand for firewood. We have received a demand for 750 metric tonnes which Maharashtra is providing,” Bhaskar Baruah, secretary, agriculture told The Indian Express. The Ministry of Agriculture is the nodal agency coordinating the relief operations.

“Three days after the quake, hopes of finding more survivors are diminishing. But more and more bodies are being unearthed. However, there is acute shortage of firewood to cremate those who have been killed. We cannot let bodies remain in the open due to the fear of an epidemic. Therefore more firewood is urgently required,” army sources said here.

The mortuaries cannot take more bodies and several are lying in courtyardsof schools and public offices waiting to be identified by relatives. “In cases of most unidentified bodies we cannot even accord them a decent cremation and there will be mass cremation of many bodies on the same pyre. But for this we need more firewood immediately,” added an official.

The first consignment of firewood has been sent from Maharashtra by train. However, train links are disrupted. This afternoon, the railways managed to restore the rail link till Gandhidham, two hours short of Bhuj. The road network is also not completely restored.

“Our transport aircraft are on standby. What to carry, where and on what priority is decided by the agriculture ministry. We are ready to transport the firewood as and when required,” IAF spokesman Squadron Leader Rajesh Dhingra said.

“The quantity of wood required is enormous. We are presently providing 7.5 lakh kilograms of wood. When this reaches we will wait and revise the demand accordingly. Wood will be provided free of cost for the cremation,” an official at the agriculture ministry said.

The Coast Guard too joined in relief operations with its ships providing floating hospitals and helicopters flying in the injured. All functions related to the coast guard week celebrations have been called off in view of the earthquake.

INS Ganga a naval ship arrived at Kandla this morning with 20 tonnes of rations, blankets and four VSAT terminals. Food is also being cooked on board the ship for distribution to the locals, a naval spokesman said.

One naval and two CG Dorniers are being used to airlift doctors, medicines and medical equipment to Bhuj and Kandla, he added. Air Force too increased the number of aircraft and helicopters pressed into service for quake relief operations. 1,100 tonnes of relief material has already been transported by the IAF, a spokesman said.