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News, as it happens, on the quake

Nidhi Taparia in Bombay

For those far away, with families affected by the earthquake, there a few sites on the Net which are bringing you news as it happens.

But moving within the heart of Gujarat, panjokutch.com has been reporting the situation from Kutch as it happens.

Pankaj Shah, project director of the site, established six months back, said, "We are trying to provide a daily minute-by-minute update. The minute the news comes in, we put it up on the site. We have established a sea link from Bombay to Kutch and have our reporters reporting news as it happens. The main purpose is to be able to provide help and information to people. We have devoted all our servers and 28 people round-the-clock to just that, as reports come in."

The site has asked people to email information they would like about relatives and the site gets back to them, with information they have. "We have received 1200 emails regarding relatives or people who have families in the area and we have two people working round-the-clock just replying to their emails."

"We are also posting information on people just so that anybody who could have missed it earlier can return to the site and check it out. Besides latest reports, a relief fund is also up. We have tied up with trust funds of Kutch and are passing on online donations or help or volunteers' efforts coming our way. We are also trying to generate relief for people affected by the earthquake in Kutch, by contacting 20,000 voluntary and charity organisations across the world."

The site has been flooded with online donations coming in from Gujaratis all over the world. "What is satisfying is that we can create an 'informed situation'. We have been able to tell people not to panic and we have been able to help a few minds rest easy. When I get emails that say that it was just heartening to read the news on the site, or get information about relatives, we feel we have managed to ease the burden of some people with technology that we can use."

Kutchinfo.com also has news of relief work and those affected by the earthquake, along with news from the region as it happens. Except for ahmedabad.com, which hosts buildings in Ahmedabad city that collapsed in the earthquake in different parts of the city as claimed officially by the Ahmedabad police, the official Gujarat Government sites have no information on the earthquake.

The Complete Coverage

EXTERNAL LINKS
The RD Killer Quake of Jan 26, 2001: Technical details
All about earthquakes in India and their impact
India Meteorological Department's earthquake reports
Disaster relief set-up in India
Major earthquakes across the world in recent times
A post-quake volunteer's unusual tryst with the departed
Earthquake News: Web site offering comprehensive news, information and features
Earthquake site map
USGS: Earthquake Hazards Program

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