Progress report for the workshed project at the village Dhamadka  Ta: Anjar

The infrastructure available with the artisans of the village Dhamadka and round about villages was completely destroyed due to the Earthquake  of 26th January 2001. This rendered the artisans jobless. The efforts in the  direction of  rehabilitating  these artisans were started immediately. The detailed survey was carried out and 112  artisans were identified who were in need of new worksheds.

Design & estimate

A few alternatives were tried and finally design offered by Abhiyan has been accepted by the artisans.  The total Built-up area of the workshed comes to 540sq.ft. The roof will be R.C.C. and not with  tiles or sheets.  Each such workshed will cost Rs. 1,10,000/- which includes the Administrative & other Service Charges also.

Funds:

Many philanthropic agencies from  India And abroad volunteered to donate towards  this project. The commitments so far received are as follows:

1. Government of Gujarat  ( The Govt. has declared a package to provide Rs. 50,000/- per workshed.) – But as yet, nothing is delivered.
2. GURJAR ( The  Gujarati ASSo. Of  New England (USA) ) Ref: Mr. Chandubhai Shah   
3. CAMA ( Chemi. & alkali Merchant Asso. in Mumbai) ( Ref: Mr. Kirit Gohil )  
4. COINS ( Coalition of Indians in New England State ( USA) ) (Ref : Mr. Arvind Pancholi)
5. Indo- American Art Council ( Through Abhiyan)                                                         MOU in process.
6. VIDE ( volunteers for India Development & Empoverment) ( Ref: Ms. Priti Patil)

The work upto the plinth level in 8 worksheds of the village Budharmora has been completed. The cement Blocks for this purpose were purchased from Abhiyan in order to start the work immediately. The procedure of Certification of Building is in  process. The formalities for getting material at subsidized rates is to be taken up by VRTI Earthquake Cell.   

Purchase of Block Making Machines:

It was decided to purchase  two Block Making Machines in order to give proper momentum to the work. The order has been placed for Two Machines at the total cost of Rs. 155000/-. The Machines are in transit and will reach at the site shortly.

Special Note :

Water quality of the village of Dhamanka changed drastically after earthquake, so some artisan families chose to build on a different site and call it Ajrakhpur.  In order to select the site for Ajrakhpur, water sampling at several locations between Bhuj and Bhachau was carried out.

72 artisan families of village Dhamadka have shifted to a new site known Ajarakhpur near the village Padhar. Out of remaining 18 artisans have decided to shift to a new site i.e. village Kotda, Ta. Anjar. The remaining Two artisans are to continue at the village Dhamadka.

20 artisans from the nearby villages namely Budharmora (8), Chakarmora (5), Morgar (4) and Bhujpur (3) will be provided the worksheds in their respective villages. The work at Budharmora has already started as reported above.

The land for Ajrakhpur has been purchased and this purchase has been funded by Artisans (through other loans they have received…)  This village is planned to have 200 family work sheds, of which, VRTI would fund around 100 work sheds.

Plot selection in Ajrakhpur was achieved efficiently by delegating the responsibility to leaders of groups of Artisans.

In short, following has been achieved for Ajrakhpur:

·        Acquiring and cleaning up the land.

·        Outlined location of sheds -- Surveying and Marking locations

·        Starting to dig the foundation

Currently it is estimated that in couple of months, these work sheds would be operative.  To help the artisans, VRTI has also decided to provide them with starting tool sets.