Killari quake: 25 yrs on, survivors tell tales of trauma, grit

Aarti Kalpekar was only one-and-a-half-month-old when her family house in Killari village in Latur district of Maharashtra collapsed when a devastating earthquake ravaged the region in the wee hours of September 30, 1993, just after the Ganesh festival.Aarti was sleeping with her parents and was stuck in the debris of their house following the devastating temblor.Though she and her mother survived, the quake claimed her father’s life.For her mother, Sunita, who was abandoned by her in-laws following her husband’s death, Aarti was the only reason to forget her trauma. With the baby in tow, she moved to her maternal house in Ambulga village in the district and tried to stitch together torn pieces of her life.”My mother lived to ensure my well-being and my growth as a good and responsible human being. I was very good at studies and despite my aim to be an engineer, I could not get admission since the fees were not affordable. After doing MA, I completed DEd and now I work as a teacher,” Aarti said.Although she is not aware of the hardships her mother went through and the trauma faced by the people in the last 25 years, Aarti said women in rural areas are empowered after the crisis strikes them.Her mother Sunita said she was married for less than two years when the disaster struck them in the form of the quake.”My nails came off when I was being pulled out of the debris. The earthquake struck at around 3.45 am and I was taken out around 9.30 am. After the quake, the tremors were felt till about 11 am. I was thrown out of the house, with the family asking why I survived while my husband could not,” Sunita said.
Around 52 villages in Latur-Osmanabad region were destroyed by the earthquake, which measured 6.4 on the Richter scale. Approximately 10,000 people died, while thousands of others were injured in the disaster. Killari was the epicentre of that earthquake.Sunita said over the years, she has overcome the trauma and set up a laundry and tailoring unit with the help of loan obtained from the self help groups (SHGs).“I earn enough to sustain myself and my daughter. I married her off to my relative and they stay close to me. I had got Rs 25,000 compensation for being a quake survivor. I put that money in fixed deposit. Now, my husband’s family have cordial relations with me,” she said.
Another survivor, 84-year-old Shankar Padsalgi, the then sarpanch of Killari village said, “You can’t move ahead in life without defeating all the obstacles. You have no other option.” “About eight families (in the village) were completely wiped out. The crisis was unprecedented. Heavy rains affected the relief and rehabilitation work. For six months, families lived under a single tent..