Quake help not fast enough, says Indian PM

A man hammers away at the rubble to find survivors

From staff and wire reports

BHUJ, India -- Four days after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake leveled a large region of western India, rescuers continued to work frantically on Monday to free people trapped under debris.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee arrived in quake-torn Bhuj saying that help was not coming fast enough, even as remarkable rescues continued to lift the hopes of those picking through the rubble.

Makeshift funeral pyres were constructed for the thousands of victims killed in the disaster and efforts were being made to provide shelter for thousands of people made homeless by the quake, a Cabinet minister told CNN.

A spokesman for Gujarat State said the government had recovered 6,287 bodies. However, he said hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other bodies had been cremated by families. Hundreds more were buried.

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Some authorities in India said it was likely that the death toll would rise above 20,000. The number injured was more than 32,000, officials said.

Exact death toll unknown

Indian Cabinet Minister Arun Jaitley told CNN International that it was impossible at this time to determine how many people have been killed in the earthquake.

"The official figures are only in regard to the dead bodies which have been recovered, and more and more are being recovered by the hour," Jaitley said Monday. "It will still take a few days before the final toll of the death can be really indicated."

Rescue teams were using sensitive listening devices to find survivors trapped under the rubble of hundreds of buildings that collapsed in Friday's quake.

"As far as devastation is concerned, it is absolutely extensive," Jaitley said. "Village after village has been razed to the ground. There are several towns which have been absolutely made non-existent. There are people who are buried under the rubble and debris."

Essential services need to be provided to survivors, Jaitley said.

Surprise survivor

On Monday, rescuers trying to recover the body of a woman killed by the quake made a startling discovery -- an infant in her lap, covered with blood but still alive. Doctors say the 7-month-old will survive, said R.K. Thakur, a Border Security Forces assistant commandant.

However, tales of dramatic rescues are becoming rare after three cold nights.

"Hope of finding survivors is dwindling hour by hour, but as long as there is hope, we won't give up," said Joachim Ahrens, spokesman for a Swiss government agency responsible for a rescue team in Bhuj. "The hopes are dwindling, but they are not yet dead."

Shelter and food

"They are badly in need of shelter and food," said Kishore Mehta of aid agency BAPS Care International.

"There is a shortage of water also," Mehta said. "Volunteers are finding a lot of grief among the persons who are affected. They are in so much shock, and they are in desperate need of help to get their life back to normal."

UNICEF spokeswoman Sandi Blanchett said one of the primary problems is providing medical care for the thousands of injured. She said most hospitals were flattened by the quake, and literally thousands of injured people have not been able to obtain care.

She said people were also afraid to go back into what few buildings were left standing. Survivors huddled in open fields, wrapped in blankets. Some organized free kitchens, cooking rice, vegetables and lentils in huge vats.

"We have only ourselves to turn to," said Ramiklal Jaisa, 72. He and 5,000 others have been camping in a field since Friday.

Funeral pyres

Disposing of bodies to prevent the spread of disease was also a concern.

"People are cremating bodies everywhere, on both sides of the road," Blanchett said, "including the unclaimed bodies that are also being burned."

She said another pressing problem is water. The Gujarat area is arid, and the region has experienced a drought over the last two years.

Tremors lasting up to 30 seconds continued to shake India on Monday, panicking residents but causing no new damage beyond minor cracks in buildings.

A man leans against the remains of his home on Monday in Anjar -- 45 kilometers east of Bhuj, India

A 4.3-magnitude quake at 8:08 a.m. Monday was centered 33 kilometers (20 miles) from Bangalore, a city 1,350 kilometers (850 miles) southeast of the epicenter of Friday's quake. Authorities there closed schools and colleges Monday.

Financial cost of restoration

In the first estimate of the damage, the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry put losses at $5.5 billion, in addition to a daily production loss of $111 million, Secretary-General Amit Mitra said.

Clearly overwhelmed, the government said Sunday it would ask for a $1.5 billion loan from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for reconstruction.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday that the United States government had already given almost $1 million to help with the quake recovery. On Sunday, Washington promised to eventually donate $5 million.

Prime minister 'encourages' relief workers

Also on Monday, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee arrived in Bhuj, near the epicenter of the quake, saying that help was not coming quickly enough. "Relief work needs to be speeded up," Vajpayee told reporters. "The government is surveying the villages. There is a lack of relief work in the villages."

But Jaitley told CNN International that the prime minister's comments were being misconstrued.

"He (the prime minister) went there to encourage relief workers, to show solidarity with the people there, and he also expressed anxiety that we have to hasten the extent of the relief work because there are still areas where relief work is not adequate," Jaitley said. "So it was not more a critical comment, but it was a challenge before the relief workers that we have to do much better than what we are doing."

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

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