DEATH TOLL 6072 AND INJURED 14512: GOVERNMENT CLAIMS

 New Delhi: January 28

 The death toll in Gujarat earthquake has increased to 6072 and the number of injured is now at 14512, said the Government in an official statement. "At Bhuj, 5000 people died and about 10,000 got injured. At Ahmedabad city, death toll is 417 and injured figure is 708. Rajkot rural, 303 people died and 1220 got injured," it said.

    Two Naval Ships INS Sutlej and INS Nirdeshak are anchored ex-Kandla Port to treat the injured. INS Ganga is carrying injured persons from Bhuj to Bombay on its return journey. The ship has the capacity of carrying 200 patients. Jaslok and Hinduja Hospitals have offered free treatment of earthquake victims. 11.5 tonnes of medical supplies to treat the injured have reached Bhuj. Armed Forces have made arrangements to provide 340 bed facilities to treat the injured. Two ambulances and two surgical teams are already at Bhuj. Four additional Field Ambulances one each from Ambala, Secunderabad, Jodhpur and Gwalior have also reached Bhuj. One Medical Platoon from Bhopal is also on its way. Central team of 20 doctors, 10 doctors from Haryana, 17 doctors from PGI Chandigarh, 10 medical personnel from Safdarjung Hospital, 100 doctors from Maharashtra have reached Bhuj. 12 doctors from AIIMS, New Delhi are reaching Gujarat today. 711 medical personnel are deployed and 30 more are ready to reach. Ministry of Health is sending a special team to check any outbreak of epidemic.  The strength of the individuals from Army, Para-miilitary forces, Central Government and foreign countries involved in relief and rehabilitation measures is 5161. Another 840 persons are moving for deployment.

    1.10 lakh tonnes of foodgrains including ready to eat foot is available for distribution at Bhuj. Hindustan Zinc is also supplying food packets. 36,000 blankets have already reached and 92,000 blankets are in the pipeline. 10,800 tents have reached and 2450 more tents are on their way to Bhuj. 3000 tonnes of GI sheets scheduled for various destinations have been diverted for Bhuj.     Air Force is carrying relief / rescue materials and trained personnel to Gujarat. 16 helicopters are located in the vicinity of Bhuj for relief and rescue operations and evacuating injured persons. Resources mobilized by the Army for relief operations include 23 trench digging and heavy weight lifting equipment, 7 heavy duty dozors, 49 generators, 8 Air compressors, 43 water supply equipments, 145 large portable water tanks and 200 sanitation units.

    Railways are starting special trains for evacuation of injured persons. Instructions have been passed to use Railway goods shelters as shelters. To accommodate doctors and relief persons, one bogie of first class coach is being stationed at Bhuj.

    The Department of Telecommunications has stepped up its massive efforts in the restoration and rectification operation in the quake-hit areas. 120 more channels have been added from Bhuj to Rajkot and Ahmedabad bringing the total number of channels now available to 240. A 2000 line exchange has been made functional and Gandhidham and PCOs have also been provided outside the exchange and people are now making calls from these PCOs free of cost. In Bhuj 7 PCOs have been provide at two locations with similar facilities. 8 INMARSET, 4 High Frequency Sets and 12 Radio Relay Detachments are augmenting communication support.

    Governments of Russia, Japan, Germany, Turkey, Britain, Switzerland, Korea and Netherlands have shown their willingness to provide relief and rescue materials and trained personnel. From Turkey, 35 persons, 10 tonnes of rescue equipments and 1 tonne of medicines, from Britain 69 specialists, 4 search dogs and relief material, from Switzerland 45 persons, 1 team of sniffer dogs and from Russia 70 persons have reached Gujarat. Japan has donated 0.25 million US $ in kind and 0.75 million US $ to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.

    Central Government has provided full exemption from excise duty to goods donated or purchased out of cash donations for relief. Similar exemptions have been provided from customs duty to imported goods intended for donation for relief. Government has decided to extend 100 per cent deductions from income tax of donations by charitable institutions and individuals.

    Banks and National Housing Bank have been asked to put up a Control Room to provide and propagate information on the assistance available. Public Sector Banks of the country have decided a donation of Rs. 20 crores to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. Specials Cells have been set up in the city of Ahmedabad and other places in Gujarat for expeditious settlement of insurance claims. National Insurance Company, United India Assurance Company, New India Assurance Company and Oriental Insurance Company will function as a single co-ordinating unit. 

India rallies to cope with quake that kills over 10,000

The devastating earthquake that hit the Western Indian state of Gujarat has left over 10,000 killed and thousands on the streets of  cities and towns. The border district of Kutch  bordering Pakistan, is the worst affected region where more than 8,000 casualties are reported. Bhuj, the epicenter of the quake, is the largest town in the district --its 150,000 inhabitants were  Famousfor  handicraft industries, the area  lies about 20 km from the epicenter.  Some neighborhoods in the region are totally flattened in the quake.

EARTHQUAKE TOLL MAY GO BEYOND 15,000 According to officials at the Science and Technology ministry death toll in Friday's earthquake could go well beyond 15,000.  Additional Director General, Indian Meteorological Department, S. K. Srivastav said that almost all the villages and towns within a radius of 50 kilometres of Bhuj in Gujarat have been wiped out. With a quake of this intensity -- 6.9 on the Richter scale -- the epi-centre of the 'quake must be totally devastated. "What you can do is minimise the damage by telling people what kind of houses to build when you are in a seismic zone. You cannot hope to walk on the razor edge, barefeet. You have to be equipped. If you place your throat on the razor you know what would happen."

 Bhuj, which lies south of the Thar Desert, is home to a forward air base of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and though the quake has not affected the operational preparedness of the base, nearly 100 IAF personnel and their families living in civilian accommodation outside the base perished in the quake. There was no major damage to one of India's largest oil storage facilities at Kandla port, some 70 km south of Bhuj. Two nuclear facilities that lie within an 850 km radius of the quake are also unaffected. One of these is a plant producing heavy water at Vadodra, 450 km from Bhuj and the other an atomic plant at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan, 850 km from the epicenter. One of the nuclear plants produces heavy water and is located at Baroda around 450 km from Bhuj. The other atomic plant is in neighboring Rajasthan, around 850 km from the epicenter.

 In Ahmedabad, Gujarat's largest city with a population of over four million, and in some of the other towns and cities, people spent the nights in the open fearing more shocks "Real damage to industrial sites and factories in and around Ahmedabad has been limited. Real loss of lives and property has taken place in residential areas," Ram Prakash Gupta, president of the Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) said in a statement. Relief Commissioner S.K. Nanda said that the administration was doing all that it was possible but the magnitude of the disaster was too massive for the administration to cope. The disaster is spread all over the state, right from Kutch to Vapi and Saurashtra in south Gujarat, Nanda said makeshift hospitals have been set up in Bhuj and medical teams have been rushed there. About 2,300 bodies had been recovered from Bhuj, according to officials, but the death toll in the district was likely to touch 8,000 as Rapar, Anjar and Pachchao apart from Bhuj had suffered extensive damage and information was yet to trickle in from these towns. 

The India Meteorological Department, Mumbai reported almost 180aftershocks in the wake of the Friday morning quake. No damage was, however, reported from these tremors. Help is pouring in for medicines, food and blankets. Among the countries offering support are the U.S., Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Japan and Germany.

 Indian states and private companies have sent help to the relief operations. Maharashtra has rushed a special team of doctors and medicines, Haryana has offered 10,000 blankets, and Rajasthan has sent a medical team and manpower. Business houses Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Zinc and others are trying to assist in providing food and medicines to the affected victims.

 Officials said 500 tents for affected people have already been sent to Bhuj, while 600 more were on the way. In Bhuj alone almost 90 percent of the houses developed cracks and 10 percent collapsed. Majority of the residents in Bhuj are living on the streets. Even the rescue workers who have rushed from the capital are spending nights in their vehicles. The power supply in affected areas has largely been restored. Gujarat consumes an average 6000 megawatts of power per day. On Friday after the earthquake the power supply came down to 2000 megawatts. But a day later the officials claim it has been restored. But there are still some problems in communication lines.

 Residents of some of the high rise buildings that collapsed due to quake have blamed the greedy builders for violating building and property acquisition bylaws. Builders lobby say the sheer intensity of the earthquake would have taken down most buildings anywhere. As some older buildings are still intact Builders' people blamed builders greed contributing to the tragedy.

 According to some experts  most high rise building in the area were designed to withstand earthquakes measuring up to seven on the Richter scale. No wonder  many high rise buildings in Ahmedabad survived the tremor. "If we want to build high rise buildings in the state, we will have to incorporate adequate quake-resistant measures," Shah pointed out while adding that only those low-rise buildings had collapsed which were not required to carry out "quake binding" steps. Haren Pandya, Gujarat's Minister of State for Home and an engineer by training, said the state government would definitely look into these public complaints against the builders. The worst affected areas are in western Gujarat, close to Pakistan, where towns like Bhuj, Pachchao, Anjar in Kutch district have borne the brunt of the earthquake. Kutch alone is said to have accounted for 8,000 deaths, with Bhuj, the largest town in the district, being the worst hit.

Congress President visit victims

 Unauthorized construction was a flourishing business in Ahmedabad and other parts of the state until the Gujarat High Court pulled up the builders and civic authorities. The state government had to come out with an ordinance to save a majority of these structures from being pulled down under the high court's instructions.  Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi Saturday toured the quake-hit areas of Gujarat as the governments of Congress-ruled neighboring states sent relief assistance to the quake victims. Gandhi, who flew to Ahmedabad by a chartered flight from New Delhi, visited the affected areas of both Ahmedabad and Bhuj to commiserate with the people, party sources here said. Senior Congress leaders in Gujarat are already arranging relief and assistance for the victims. They said in response to an appeal by Gandhi, the government of neighboring Maharashtra state had rushed three teams of doctors and another team to assist in the relief work, while the new state of Chattisgarh had announced it would send assistance of Rs. 10 million.

 Russia sends special plane for quake rescue operations

 A specially equipped Russian plane has left for India to assist in rescue operations in the country.  The aircraft, belonging to the Russian Ministry for Emergencies, carries special equipment, sniffer dogs, medical equipment and medicines to help victims of the earthquake.  The equipment and dogs aboard the Russian plane are known to miraculously help trace people buried deep in quake debris. Russian rescue workers have the experience of saving hundreds of lives after quakes in Turkey, Rumania and Armenia as well as their own country.  The Russian government is reported to have offered its assistance in rescue operation in the quake-hit areas of India within hours of the tragedy and its specially-equipped aircraft, designed to meet such calamity, had been kept ready for take off from the Raminsky Defense Airport since Friday noon.

Vital oil port, nuclear installations in Gujarat safe after quake

There was no oil spill at India's important oil-importing Kandla port, and two nuclear installations in the region were safe after a massive earthquake hit Gujarat spreading across the continent, officials said Saturday. Officials at the Crisis Management Center said the Kandla seaport, one of the country's most important ports, and two nuclear installations, all of which fall in the area most severely affected by the quake, were undamaged.

Kandla is around 70 km south of the desert town of Bhuj in Kutch district, the epicenter of the earthquake that hit Friday morning. The quake measured around 6.9 Richter scale. One of the nuclear plants produces heavy water and is located at Baroda around 450 km from Bhuj. The other atomic plant is in neighboring Rajasthan, around 850 km from the epicenter. Officials admitted there was shortage of concrete cutting equipment and earthmovers and the government has sought  help from international agencies for sophisticated debris clearing equipment.

 Bhuj airport was slightly damaged, but was quickly restored to facilitate landing of heavy aircraft. The state-run Indian airlines will fly special planes from Mumbai to Bhuj, and Indian railways will run special trains from various parts of the country, helping people travel to meet their relatives and friends in the affected areas.  The special trains to the affected areas would be free of cost, the officials said. Help is pouring in with medicines, food and blankets. Among the countries offering support are the U.S., Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Japan and Germany.

 Indian states and the private companies have sent help to the relief operations.  Maharashtra has rushed a special team of doctors and medicines, Haryana has offered 10,000 blankets, and Rajasthan has sent a medical team and manpower. Business houses like Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Zinc and others are trying to assist in providing food and medicines to the affected victims. The army hospital in Bhuj, with 90 beds, is functional. The power supply in affected areas has largely been restored, officials said. Gujarat's power needs are estimated at 6,000 megawatts of power per day. On Friday after the earthquake, the power supply came down to 2,000 megawatts per day. But a day later the officials claim it has been restored. But there are still some problems in communication lines.  

The International Federation of Red Cross

Crescent Societies (IFRC) has issued a preliminary appeal for two million Swiss francs to support an emergency relief operation by the Indian Red Cross in aid of victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Gujarat early Friday.  "It is the worst quake to hit India since 1956 and has left thousands of people in urgent need of emergency assistance. The Federation's appeal aims initially to assist 50,000 victims of the earthquake," the IFRC said in a statement. The first priority is to provide adequate funds to the Federation and Indian Red Cross to enable it to buy urgently needed relief items, all or most of which can be purchased locally. These include clothes, blankets, basic medical supplies, shelter and construction materials, and provision of clean water and sanitation facilities, the statement said.  "Our greatest concern is that the crisis is still unfolding. It's a very isolated area and we don't yet have the complete picture; many people may still be trapped," it quoted Patrick Fuller, IFRC's information delegate in India who is now in Gujarat, as saying. It noted that government's aerial assessment of Bhuj town showed that up to 90 percent of buildings may be damaged.

 It said an assessment team from the Federation and the Indian Red Cross is traveling to the disaster zone to ascertain more clearly the humanitarian needs. "This preliminary appeal will be followed by a full appeal once needs assessments have been completed and more detailed   information becomes available. Subsequently funds may be required for rehabilitation and reconstruction, replenishment of the Indian Red Cross disaster preparedness stocks and to enhance and improve the Society's capacity to respond to disaster situations," it added. The Federation and the Indian Red Cross are coordinating with Indian government officials in providing emergency relief.  In Geneva, the International Federation Secretariat has allocated 200,000 Swiss francs from its disaster fund and has alerted trained Federation teams of international experts in disaster response and a mobile emergency hospital in case they are needed. The statement noted that this is the most destructive earthquake to hit India since 1956, with deaths, damage and casualties likely to approach or even exceed the country's last major quake in Latur in Maharashtra  in 1993, which left nearly 10,000 people dead.

 SWISS SNIFFER DOGS TO HELP IN RESCUE OPERATIONS

 The Indian government has accepted 'sniffer dogs', offered by the Swiss government, to extricate the dead and trapped victims of the earthquake in Bhuj and other cities of Gujarat. "Our first priority is extricating those trapped and the dead," said Agriculture Secretary Bhaskar Baruah, who is the nodal point for natural disasters in India. "Although our policy is not to take help from abroad, we have gratefully accepted assistance from abroad," added Baruah. He pointed out that Russia, Japan, Germany, Turkey, Switzerland and the US had offered assistance to the victims. "Luckily, there has been no power grid collapse," Baruah said. He pointed out that Gujarat's power needs were 5,900 mw. And at present 5,300 mw is still available. Fifty specialists from NTPC and GRIDCO have rushed to Bhuj to restore damaged power lines. Baruah said, "Blankets, generators, potable water, milk powder and food packets have been rushed to the victims." The Coast Guard is ferrying doctors to the affected areas.

 Nearly, 4,000 blankets have been sent; another 20,000 will be flown on Saturday, while 50,000 will be sent later, he said.  He pointed out that Bhuj airport was operational now. Nine flights of IL-76s will be flown to Bhuj and other parts of Gujarat on Saturday, besides 16 helicopters. In another development, 60 doctors from New Delhi have been rushed to Bhuj and doctors have also rushed from Bombay, where efforts are on to send maximum medical supplies and food packages. Nearly 150 jeeps have also been sent to the quake affected areas. Central government public sector undertakings are also helping out; Hindustan Zinc, IFFCO and CRIBHCO are taking care of sending food supplies. Besides that paramilitary forces like the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, CIFS and Rapid Action Force have been rushed to the affected areas.

  According to Dr Dr A.K. Shukla, Senior officer in the Indian Meteriological Department "It is the mitigation effort which is more important in earthquake disaster management. major loss of life is reported in the first few hours of any earthquake and if these are attended to the death toll goes down significantly" "The rescue operations should start immediately and efforts should be made to ensure that those trapped in the debris should be attended to as son as possible because several deaths occur due to shock and trauma," Dr Shukla added.

 More deaths are caused due to after-shock as building foundations get weak after the initial tremors. After Friday’s quake, 18 after-shocks with tapering intensity were felt in the affected areas throughout the day. Explaining what causes an earthquake, he explained that several factors go on to cause this phenomenon. An earthquke, he said, "Is a series of vibrations on the earth’s surface caused by the generation of elastic (seismic) waves due to sudden rupture within the earth during release of accumulated energy."

He also added that plate tactonics also cause earthquakes. The Indian plate is moving in north-north-east direction and colliding with the Eurasian plate along the Himalayas. This plate movement leads to tremors. To mitigate the devastation caused by an earthquake, the Bureau of Indian Standards has given specifications for safe houses. Experts said that a house, in order to be able to sustain shocks to a greater extent, just need to have five to seven per cent more of building material. So it is imperative to adhere to the building codes laid down by the BIS especially for those areas that fall in the seismic zone as suggested by the IMD.

 The tremors felt in most parts of the country were due to waves that follwo an earthquake. The primary waves travel at the speed of six kilometres per seconds. These were also followed by what is known as secondary waves which travel at a speed of three kilometres per second.  Reptiles, seismic experts said, are the best "natural seismographs." Since reptiles crawl along the ground with their skin touching the earth, they are able to feel the tremors and take refuge in safe places. But then animal behaviour is also indicative, but may not be accurate at all points of time.

More than 4,700 Indian armymen are engaged in relief and rescue operations in quake-hit Gujarat, an army spokesman said on Saturday. Lt Gen N.C. Vij, GoC-in-C southern command, has reached Bhuj to oversee relief and rescue operations. Four surgical teams from Pune and two field ambulances are providing medical, life saving and surgical cover to the victims at Bhuj. Additional surgical and medical teams with mobile operation theater facilities and engineering equipment, including heavy duty power generators, trench digging and lifting machines, have also reached Bhuj.

 Special arrangements for the treatment and admission of the victims have been made in all military hospitals. Ninety beds have been provided for quake victims at the Bhuj Military Hospital while 250 beds are available at the Ahmedabad Military Hospital.  The Army has set up V-sat link between Delhi and Ahmedabad and a disaster management control centre has been established at the Army headquarters under the director-general of military operations.  The air force is using 16 helicopters for relief and rescue work and lined up another nine IL-76 craft to fly down relief material and rescue workers. The Bhuj airbase is serving as a link between Kutch and the rest of the country. Seven helicopters have been  positioned at the airbase and are making regular sorties to take the injured to hospitals.  

KERALA MONITOR

Special Report:  Earthquakes

HEALTH MINISTRY MOUNTS EMERGENCY RELIEF MEASURES

The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Dr. C.P. Thakur has said that relief measures for the victims of earthquake in Bhuj and neighbouring areas of Gujarat have started on war-footing and 60 doctors from the major Central Govt. hospitals in Delhi have been sent to Bhuj and Ahmedabad to assist the State Government 

The Indian Red Cross Society has been asked to arrange for required blood, blankets, tents etc. 80 cartels of medicines have already been despatched and 40 more cartels are on the way, he said.

The Indian Red Cross has already sent 15000 blankets and is arranging to send 35000 more blankets to Bhuj. Also 100 big tents are likely to be airlifted from Calcutta to Bhuj by a special plane soon. The Indian Red Cross in its bid to mobilize enough units of blood has opened special counters at its head office in the capital and this will remain open between 3 to 7 P.M. , the Minister said.

Dr. Thakur reviewed the situation this morning and ordered the officials to be in touch with the neighbouring State Governments and also the subsidiary units of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare so that emergency needs of the earthquake affected victims can be met on priority. He also said that the health care delivery administration has been put on high alert so that the requirements are met immediately. A round the clock cell has also been made operational for this.  So far medicines worth Rs. 12.15 lakh have been sent and the next lot worth Rs. 3.5 lakh is also on its way to the affected areas.


EXCISE AND CUSTOMS DUTY RELIEF FOR GOODS MEANT FOR QUAKE-HIT GUJARAT

The Central Government have provided full exemption from excise duty to goods donated or purchased out of cash donations, for the relief and rehabilitation of persons affected by the earthquake that struck the State of Gujarat on 26th January, 2001. A similar exemption has been provided from customs duty to imported goods
intended for donation for the same purpose. Notification Nos. 2/2001-Central Excise and 7/2001-Customs, both dated 27.01.2001 containing the procedure required for availing of these exemptions have been issued in this regard. The notifications take immediate effect.


HOME MINISTRY RUSHES RELIEF TO QUAKE-HIT AREAS OF GUJARAT

The Centre has rushed 23 companies of Para-Military Forces to Gujarat to assist in the rescue and relief operations. These include 5 companies of RAF, 10 companies of CISF, 6 companies of SSB and 1 company each from BSF and CRPF. Doctors from Para-Military forces have also gone to the quake affected areas with life
saving and other essential medicines.  The relief materials including tents, food, 4000 blankets have been transported by air to the affected areas. A communication restoration team has also been sent to Kandla by the CISF for setting up wireless communication

Gujarat Industries safe

Major industries in Gujarat, the leading industrial base of India had a narrow escape from the killer earthquake The major manufacturing  plants of  Reliance, Essar, GAIL, IPCL and Indian Oil are located in  Hazira and Jamnagar were not damaged, the Kandla port was partially hit and infrastructure facilities like power and telecom were thrown out of gear in the region. The stock markets are
expected to take a major hit when it re-opens on Monday after a prolonged week-end due to fears of infrastructural break down.

 
A significant aftershock will be felt on the Indian  business in the months to come as the heavy human toll and damage to roads and other infrastructure will definitely affect demand for goods and services. ``Power,
roads and telecom cables have taken a big hit which will take at least a year to restore... this, in turn, will affect the business sentiment,'' said an expert.
Though petrochemical plants, oil refineries and an LPG pipeline in Gujarat have not suffered damage in the earthquake, the plants were closed for more than four hours as a precautionary measure on Friday. ``Reliance oil refinery was automatically shut off due to in-built safety measures... however by evening the plant was running smoothly``RIL's Hazira plant, near Surat, is also running as per the schedule.'' he added. "Product dispatch will continue normally... after checks with Jamnagar and Hazira I can say for now that our plants and people are safe," he said. "The power system has since been restored and a phased start-up of the plants has started," he said Reliance's complexes at Jamnagar and Hazira are estimated to account for more than 70 per cent of the Reliance group's nine million tonne per year petrochemical production capacity. The company is using satellite commnications to talk to its employees and sent cranes and other equipments for relief work in Jamnagar city from its refinery complex, he added.  While some buildings in Essar Steel complex at Hazira were damaged due to the tremors, a company spokesman said the quake did not cause any disruption in operations and production at the steel manufacturing facility
Government-owned Indian Oil said its refinery in Koyali suffered no damage from the quake. "Our Koyali refinery is safe. There is no damage to life or property," a senior IOC official said. Koyali refinery has an average monthly output of 1.035 million tonnes. But the official said IOC's Kandla-Bhatinda oil products pipeline had been shut down by a power outage at the Port town of Kandla.

The pipeline, which has a capacity of 8.5 million tonnes, supplies oil products to the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. But operations at India's busiest Port, Kandla, were partly affected by the massive earthquake. There were reports of an oil slick in Kandla but it was not clear if it was from tankers berthed at the Port or from underground storage tanks in the Port area. The Kandla port had suffered a criplling blow in 1998 killer Cyclone too. "We have had some damage at Kandla Port," said a Kandla port official, adding he had no details. A shipping ministry spokesman later said operations at Kandla were "partly affected" but no other information was available as communication links had been badly hit by the quake. Kandla
caters to the hinterland of western, central and northern India. It handles crucial imports of petroleum products, crude oil and chemicals and exports of agricultural commodities.

Meanwhile, the state-run Gas Authority of India Ltd said its 1,230 km (769 mile) LPG pipeline from western India to just North of New Delhi was undamaged by the earthquake. "There is no damage to the pipeline at all," GAIL executive director of projects B S Negi said. Built by GAIL at a cost fRs 1,230 crore, the Kandla-Lone pipeline crosses Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh states and has an annual capacity of 1.7 million tonnes. Oil production in ONGC wells in Gujarat was disrupted for four hours and some ONGC buildings developed cracks, but major installations and equipment were intact, ONGC chairman B C Bora said in Dehradun. He said there were some cracks in several ONGC buildings in Gujarat, but the major installations and equipment were intact. Production of oil in Bombay offshore was also not affected, Bora said