Gujarat – Chapredi Village in Bhuj, 2003

After Jan 26, 2001 when an earthquake struck an otherwise little known region of Gujarat, the village of Chapredi in Bhuj district was front page news, among them Chapredi in Bhuj. Aid poured in from all parts of the country and overseas. Malayala Manorama, the all-India daily from Kerala took up the rehabilitation and rebuilding of Chapredi.

Chapredi’s ….number of houses had collapsed to rubble. The traditional method of building roofs with slivers of slate proved treacherous, as they buried the inmates when the walls collapsed. For this reason the survivors, at a consultative meeting chose to rebuild out of blocks made of indigenous earth. From then on the whole ‘rehab’ exercise became highly participatory, with the villagers undergoing training in building methods unfamiliar to them. Benny Kuriakose the project architect along with the engineers camped among the ruins of Chapredi, over several months and saw the village come up once again. Chapredi was unique with the lively involvement of its villagers in the rebuilding process. From the local earth, cement stabilized building blocks were made and the houses were built in situ.

The new monuments of the bus shelter, the entrance gate, the archway with the pigeon holes just under the roof, the circular water tank, the temple and …..new houses are evidence of the singleness of purpose and oneness of mind of those who survived the tremors of January 26, 2001. The bright coloured adornments decorated with mirror-work and tassels bear witness to the joy these brave people feel once again.