Fresh Relief Arrives in India

A H M E D A B A D, India, Feb. 3, 2001 -- U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes bigenough to carry water tankers began arriving in India's devastatedquake zone today as relief workers raced to distribute food,medicine and supplies among hundreds of thousands of survivorsbefore disease spreads.

The demolition of damaged buildings picked up speed. Soldierspiled clothes, broken furniture and children's toys in front ofruined buildings, and survivors made last-minute forays into therubble to gather possessions before their homes were knocked down.

In what U.S. officials described as an "air bridge," two C-5s— the largest planes in the Air Force fleet — flew aid from TravisAir Force Base in California and Dover Air Force Base in Delawareto Guam. In Guam, the supplies were transferred to smaller planes,because the Ahmedabad airport was too small for C-5s.

The first of the smaller planes, a C-141 carrying personnel tohelp unload, touched down just before 8 a.m. today in Ahmedabad,the largest city in quake-hit Gujarat state. A lack of people tounload aid off cargo planes has caused a bottleneck in the reliefeffort.

Planes Arriving Through the Day

A C-17 landed in the afternoon with equipment such as tankertrucks to carry water and forklifts for clearing debris.

Mission commander Maj. Dean Steele of Sonoma, Calif., said theother C-17s carrying sleeping blankets, tents and other supplieswould land at 1 1/2-hour intervals over the rest of the afternoon.

"There is nothing more rewarding than helping people in need,"Steele said.

Aid flights have been landing steadily at Ahmedabad since the quake; the flight schedule for the U.S. planes was cleared for most of today.

As it taxied down the runway after landing, the first giant grayC-17 passed a Kuwait Air Force plane already on the ground. A truckfull of laborers met the U.S. flight to help unload supplies thatwill be distributed by a Christian missionary organization, XavierTrust.

The U.S. military crew could see cracks in buildings at theairport, only a hint of the devastation wrought in Gujarat by the7.7-magnitude quake on Jan. 26.

Official Transferred Amid Complaints of Slow Response

Maj. Jeffrey Wright, assistant Army attache at the U.S. Embassyin New Delhi, dismissed complaints that the recovery effort hasbeen disorganized.

"Given the size of the calamity, there are a lot of peopledoing a lot of good work," he said today in Ahmedabad.

Amid complaints that Gujarat officials were slow to respond tothe disaster in the western region of Kutch, the top localadministrator in Kutch has been transferred to another post withoutexplanation, sources in the state government said today.

A major humanitarian crisis was brewing for the survivors,including approximately 600,000 homeless, who have been leftwithout food, clothing or sanitation.

A six-person military assessment team from U.S. Pacific Commandheadquarters in Hawaii was sent to assist the U.S. Embassy inevaluating the need for more Pentagon assistance. A 747 cargoplane, carrying an additional $4 million in aid from the U.S.Agency for International Development, will land on Monday, probablyin New Delhi.

Aftershocks Continue to Jolt Region

Former President Clinton met Friday in New York withIndian-American businessmen and some Indian government officials tolaunch a $1 million fund-raising project for victims. Clintonraised the proposal a day earlier in a phone call with India'sprime minister.

Confusion continued over the death toll. Late Friday, a topstate official in Gujarat put the number of bodies so far recoveredat 15,088, but the Gujarat state control room this morningput the toll at 11,341. The number of injured was 62,729.

Further earthquake damage remained a threat. Dozens of strongaftershocks have jolted the region, and a 5-magnitude quake hitjust north of the damaged town of Bhachau this morning.Officials at India's main port of Kandla reported another strongaftershock this afternoon. There were no immediate reports ofinjuries or damage in Bhachau or Kandla.

Buildings that were severely damaged by the quake must bebrought down. The aftershocks could send them toppling, possiblycausing more injuries and death.

In Ahmedabad today, the army rolled a 3.5-ton crane up tothe 15th of August, a building named for India's independence day,and began knocking down its concrete walls and steel girders with asteel ball. Soldiers also drilled a hole in the stone foundationand filled it with a powder that causes the building to expanduntil it crumbles, avoiding damage to intact buildings nearby.

"My heart hurts seeing this come down," said Himat Solanki,who escaped with his wife, mother and two children. "We'll have tostart all over again."

As the ball smashed into the wall of his home, Solanki shook hishead and said, "Now it's all over."