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10 years later, Gujarat earthquake victims still await justice

In the calamitous quake, more then 1,000 people died in Ahmedabad alone when residential apartments and complexes came down like a pack of cards.

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Ten years after the devastating earthquake of January 26, 2001, thousands of people in the city who became homeless when their houses collapsed during the temblor, are still waiting for justice. In the calamitous quake, more then 1,000 people died in Ahmedabad alone when residential apartments and complexes came down like a pack of cards.

Following a public outcry over the large number of people killed by collapsing buildings, the police lodged cases against builders, architects, engineers and government officials. However, most of the accused of the cases are still roaming free.

After the quake, as many as 60 cases were registered in which more than 100 people, including builders, were made accused. But 58 out of the 60 cases are still pending in the courts. In the two cases in which the courts passed judgement, two builders were convicted and jailed for two years.

Different quake-related cases are still going on in the District Court and the Metropolitan Court in the city. Praful Barot, special government counsel for quake-related cases, said the cases were being heard before the Special Metropolitan Magistrate Court and a judgment in most cases was expected by the end of this year.

"In many cases, the experts report has suggested that sub-standard material was used to raise the buildings or the construction was otherwise poor," he said.
The victims suffered a major setback when the Gujarat high court scrapped Section 304 (culpable homicide amounting to murder) from the cases. Now the cases are being heard under Section 304A (death due to negligence) in the metropolitan magistrate's court.

Under Section 304, the builder can be sentenced even to life imprisonment but under Section 304A, they can be punished to a maximum of 3 years in jail.

Incidentally, apart from architects and structural engineers, many Town Planning Officers of Auda and Ahmedabad municipal corporation had been made accused in the quake-related cases. However, taking advantage of loopholes in the law, most of them have managed to escape punishment.

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