When deadly earthquake took place in Turkey and Syria resulting in thousands of casualties, India had provided humanitarian relief to the affected countries. While speaking about it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emotionally recalled the devastating 2001 Gujarat Earthquake in an event.

 

 

 

 

 

Back in 2001, Modi served as the national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while Keshubhai Patel held the position of Chief Minister in Gujarat. The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, struck on January 26, 2001, with a magnitude of 7.7, causing estimate casualties ranging from 13,000 to 20,000 people. Its epicenter was near the village of Chobari in the Kutch district of Gujarat, India.

 

As the BJP held power both at the state and national levels, then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee engaged in video conferencing with Modi, who played a crucial role in monitoring the post-earthquake situation. Modi, alongside the Chief Minister, conducted aerial surveys of the affected areas, coordinating efforts in the aftermath of the disaster.

 

In October 2001, with Assembly elections approaching and public dissatisfaction over rehabilitation efforts, the BJP replaced Keshubhai Patel with Modi as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. While the rescue and relief phase was largely over by the time Modi assumed office, he focused on the critical task of rehabilitation.

 

Under Modi's leadership, a regulatory framework was established for handling natural calamities, leading to the formation of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for calamities were implemented, serving as guidelines during subsequent crises, such as Cyclone Tauktae.

 

In a recent event inaugurating the Tourism Working Group of G20 in Kutch, current Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel acknowledged Modi's efforts in reviving the region after the earthquake, placing it on the global tourist map. Modi himself often references Kutch's resurgence in his speeches, On August 28 last year, when he inaugurated two memorials for the earthquake victims, he talked about how Gujarat turned “adversity into opportunity” and “leaving behind every conspiracy” brought in a new industrial policy and charted a new path of development, from which Kutch benefited the most.