The heroes who have risen from the ashes of the 1993 Latur, Osmanabad earthquakes

In the wee hours of September 30 1993 lives of locals in more than 50 villages from Latur and Osmanabad districts got buried in debris A powerful tremor measured 64 on the Richter scale uprooted families orphaned kids and numbed hundreds of parents Even today 20 years later survivors often say they are unable to make peace with the disturbing memories and the loss of near and dear ones continues to haunt them Students at the Educational Rehabilitation Project by Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana at Wagholi PicSachin Thakare But life moves on Among the many wrenching stories are also those of five survivors who have come a long way and have to a large extent put the past behind them At the time of the quake these survivors were wideeyed toddlers or slightly older children After the disaster like most other children these survivors hovered around rescue camps and made a beeline outside help centres Audumbar Bansode Nandurga R was 12 years old at the time of the earthquake and now works as a teacher in Latur The quake razed many schools buildings in Latur and Osmanabad as most were weak structures Restoration seemed a distant possibility and most children from the 52 villages faced a bleak future when an NGO Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana BJS stepped in Shantilal Muttha chairperson of BJS says ldquoAs we were conducting rescue work in earthquakeaffected areas we observed that kids who had witnessed this tragedy were deeply disturbed the schools were not operational and children were making a beeline for clothes and food at one of the distribution centres This forced me to think that if this goes on the children will suffer because their education will be affected and accepting help might become a habit I thought that if they are shifted to Pune their future could be restored That is how the children were first shifted to Aatmanagar in Pimpri and later on to the Education Rehabilitation Project at Wagholirdquo u00a0Over 1200 students from quakeaffected areas came to Pune in 1993 to start their life on a fresh note Today most of them say they consider themselves successful when it came to shaping their lives and enthusing new hope among their families and social circle u00a0They lead by example the past they all believe matters only if you allow it to For those who are bent on forging new lives with resilience the calamity grim and debilitating though it was has proved to be a stepping stone toward success lsquoI missed death by a whiskerrsquo Audumbar Bansode born in Ausa Latur was 12 years old when the quake struck the region He is now a teacher at Gold Crest High School Latur An active member of Maharashtra Andhashradhha Nirmulan Samiti Latur Audumbar Bansode conducts various social activities to spread social awareness in his city Bansode strongly believes that social change should begin with onersquos home and he has stopped his family members from accepting dowry when his younger brother got married Like his role model Babasaheb Ambedkar Bansode is a teacher at an ICSE school in Latur and has married an earthquake survivor who lost everyone in the family When the quake hit Latur and Osmanabad Bansode lived at Uddattur in Lohara Taluk in Osmanabad at his auntrsquos place and was 12 years old He was alone with his sisterinlaw who got trapped under the debris Bansode who was saved miraculously continued looking for her He said ldquoMy aunt and my cousin were on their way from Pune when we were hit by the quake They were supposed to return the night before but thanks to a pickpocket who stole my cousinrsquos wallet they did not make the journey A truck driver dropped them back home They were on the way when the quake hit the area If this had not happened the death toll at our home could have been higherrdquo Bansode says that 50 per cent of the population in his village was wiped out in the tragedy He adds that the decision to come to Pune proved to be a lifealtering one as he and many other students from the quakeaffected area received quality education Recounting his experiences he says ldquoMy relatives were reluctant to part as they thought I had missed the death by a whisker and felt deeply protectiverdquo Bansode who completed MA and B Ed now works as a teacher at Gold Crest High School in Latur lsquoStudents chased trucks that came for relief workrsquo Babasaheb Dudhbhate born in Ausa Latur was 16 years old in 1993 He now works as Assistant Professor of History at theu00a0University of Pune Babasaheb Dudhbhate is credited for having rejuvenated the activities of National Service Scheme at Pune University campus He teaches history at postgraduate level and often organises camps for students to give them an opportunity to participate in developmental work in rural areas Dudhbatersquos commitment towards social work through NSS has lot to do with his childhood memories of massive destruction caused by the tremors of the LaturOsmanabad quake and the subsequent help extended by BJS to complete his education He says that the memories of the earthquake continue to haunt him even today He was 16 years back then and his village was 16 km away from the epicenter of earthquake The extent of the devastation was lesser compared to many other villages close to Killari ldquoWe experienced an earthquake for the first time and were unable to gauge what was happening around us I only realised something strange was happening to the walls around me but I did not know that this was called an earthquakerdquo he adds Months later Dudhbhate lived in the fear of aftershocks he now remembers ldquoMost of the villagers preferred to live in relief camps and students spent their days chasing the trucks that brought help for the villagers All schools and colleges were shutrdquo Like other children from his village Dudhbhate too came to Pune and studied at the school and college run by BJS He passed the SET examination too ldquoI never repent my decision to come to Pune for further educationrdquo He passed BA with first class completed his masters and then joined Elphinstone College as Assistant Professor Now Dudhbhate is Assistant Professor of History at Pune Universityu00a0 lsquoI have picked up the pieces and nurtured my talentrsquo Bhairavnath Lohatkar born in Rajegaon Osmanabad was 11 years old when the quake hit the region He now works as Senior Web Designer at IIT Powai F ew people know that Bhairavnath Lohatkar an unassuming young man from Osmanabad designed the logo of the ambitious Aakash tablet Fellow colleagues at IIT Powai know Lohatkar as an accomplished web designer but little do they know that he lost eight family members when the quake hit Osmanabad in 1993 Lohatkar who lost both his parents to illness much before the quake lost close family members in 1993 Having survived one personal blow after another Lohatkar has carved his own course of life to become an accomplished web designer Bhairavnath Lohatkar battled the earthquake trauma and is now a web designer at IIT Powai Lohatkar was just 11 years old when tragedy struck and was saved because he was staying at a hostel at Latur Lohatkar says ldquoThe walls around us trembled dangerously at the Maharashtra Vidyalaya Hostel As the day progressed we noticed that most people were out on the street Soon parents began coming to the hostel to pick up their children I lost eight family members and there was no one left to pick me uprdquo rues Lohatkar Later he too came to Pune like many from the quake affected areas He says ldquoI was not good at studies but I was interested in drawing and painting Had it not been for the teachers at BJS who nurtured my talent I would not have been successful in honing my inherent talentrdquo Lohatkar who completed his diploma in arts from Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya is now a web designer atIIT Powai Around 1200 students from Latur and Osmanabad shifted to Pune to resume their studies lsquoWe turned to shrinks for help because we couldnrsquot stay inside another buildingrsquo Hanmant Kashinath Ghodake born in Ashiv Latur had a miraculous escape in 1993 He works as a clerk at the Health Department Pune Recently Hanmant Ghodke experienced one of the proudest moments of his life he received the Best Employee Award awarded by the Pune Zilla Parishad for his remarkable service in primary heathcare in the area Ghodke is active in spreading awareness about the various schemes launched by the government for the benefit of the regionrsquos rural population A senior clerk at one of the government dispensaries his collective efforts were responsible in doubling the number of institutional deliveries as compared to last yearu00a0Ghodke has slain formidable demons ldquoEight people died in our village during the 1993 quake Hanmant Ghodke L a quake survivor works as a clerk in the statersquos Health Department We were luckier than most others to have shifted to a temporary house made of wood The extent of damage was limited and everyone in our family was saferdquo Soon after the quake as most of the schools were closed Ghodke thought his life as a student had come to an end But the BJS decided to take 1200 students to Pune for educational rehabilitation Ghodke says ldquoInitially we were scared and reluctant to stay in any building fearing that another quake would hit us and reduce us to rubble To ward off our fears psychiatrists were called in and they interacted with us Soon the efforts showed results and we could concentrate on our studies Speeches given by wellknown personalities helped us broaden our perspectiverdquo Ghodke also got an opportunity to participate in the rescue team at Bachaav in JammuKashmir after the quake hit the region in 2001 ldquoI think I was able to help them better because I had experienced the horrors myselfrdquo he says lsquoMy parents survived just because they were buried under the debrisrsquo Amar Birajdar born in Manglur Latur owns a dairy and is Founder member of Bhukanmp Kruti Samitiu00a0 Amar Birajdar is a classic case of someone who has given back to society in gratitude of what he received from it He is founder member of Bhukamp Kruti Samiti a committee formed by quakeaffected residents of Latur and Osmanabad to ensure that the quake survivors get government jobs through the three per cent quota as promised by then Chief Minister of Maharashtra Sharad Pawar Birajdar and other committee members are successful in ensuring jobs for 2000 survivors at various state government departments Birajdar runs a small dairy at Manglur and works towards issues pertaining to quake affected villages and its people He claims ldquoAs per the 1994 rehabilitation policy the state government became the owner of the land where quakeaffected villages once stood But till date the Social Forestry Department has not taken initiative for replantation The already devastated villages are in shamblesrdquo Birajdar is trying to seek the Chief Ministerrsquos appointment to discuss this issue A trained social worker Birajdar is a quake survivor He was luckier than others because his parents and grandmother were buried deep down the debris then and survived He says ldquoMy parents suffered from multiple bone injures and were hospitalised for monthsrdquo When BJS approached children from Manglur village asking them to come to Pune to complete their education Birajdar joined them and completed his postgraduationu00a0