Centre for Social Justice has been engaged in disaster management related work since the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. The organization has played an instrumental role in addressing issues related to internally displaced people and the riot-hit. CSJ has also played a crucial role in the rehabilitation of those hit by natural disasters like floods and earthquake.
Key interventions
Communal violence in Vadagam, Gujarat, 2017
In March 2017, an incidence of communal violence between the majority and minority communities shook Vadagam village in Gujarat and caused wide-spread damage and distress.
CSJ soon swung into action and visited Kursonpura, Bor and village of Harsom where the violence-hit had taken shelter. Meetings and interviews were conducted with the victims to gain an insight into what triggered the violence and extent of damage to life and property.
As part of CSJ’s legal aid and assistance, 19 FIRs were filed in various police stations. The organization followed up the status of FIRs by filing an RTI in the Dhansura police station near Modasa.
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Floods in Amreli, Gujarat 2015
CSJ responded to heavy floods in Amreli district of Gujarat in 2015 by mobilizing volunteers, carrying out surveys, accessing government assistance schemes and filing a Public Interest Litigation after the organization’s representation before the government authorities, pointing out inadequacies in their relief plan, yielded no result.
CSJ’s survey indicated that government assistance schemes for the flood victims did not include farm laborers, sharecroppers and cattle rearers. Also, many didn’t receive government announced assistance as they were missed out when surveys were conducted.
In an interim order, the court ordered the government to look into the matter and directed the District Judge, also the chairperson of the District Legal Services Authority, to accept applications from those affected and report to the High Court.
Subsequently, CSJ campaigned in 15 villages to disseminate information about the order and reached out to around 17,000 villagers. The organization also helped around 500 villagers to draft the applications for compensation to the concerned departments.
The floods were the worst in the last 90 years which affected almost 600 out of the total 838 villages of the district. The organization’s initial response was to send 4,000 text messages to locals, mainly to the farmer community that was worst affected and informed them that they could approach CSJ’s law centre in Amreli for assistance regarding availing compensation from the state under announced schemes and to seek information regarding reporting cases of missing people.
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Communal violence in Assam
The 2012 riots which started in July between the BODO and minority community engulfed three districts — Chirang, Dhubri and Kokrajhar and claimed lives of 79 and displaced around four lakh.
CSJ collected data of total number of beneficiaries and compiled data of those who had not received government compensation. The organization filed RTIs to understand how many were left out from the government’s relief grants.
CSJ filed PIL in the Guwahati High Court, questioning the minimal compensation and insisted on increasing the compensation amount. The organization made representations to concerned departments who were directly responsible to provide facilities to displaced persons, trained lawyers and volunteers from villages and collaborated with local organizations to build the alliance to reach out to the community.
CSJ is working with 126 riot-hit villages in Kokrajhar and 37 riot-hit villages in Chirang.
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Post Godhra communal frenzy in Gujarat, 2002
The CSJ played a crucial role when riots broke in Gujarat after the train carnage on February 27, 2002.
Specific interventions by CSJ during and after the riots:
- Legal survey, data collection and media scan:
CSJ, as a part of the larger group of Citizen’s Initiative, visited various camps after the riots to collect information from the victims. The organization undertook the responsibility of coordinating the legal survey undertaken by Citizen’s Initiative and systematically undertook collection and classification of various newspaper reports. A photo documentation of various incidents was also undertaken.
- Intervention at district level
Intervention in the districts of Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Bharuch, Bhavnagar and Vadodara were directly taken up. As a follow up of monitoring riot-affected criminal cases in Panchmahals, the Litigation Cell spent two days at Halol and Kalol.
- Aiding Nanavati-Shah commission, NHRC
CSJ filed a detailed affidavit in the KG Shah commission based on a survey conducted in Ahmedabad. The Litigation Cell drafted and filed various affidavits on the behalf of CSJ. The organization helped in organizing and facilitating the visits of the NHRC team and also in categorizing the complaints received by the NHRC and translating them in English. The NHRC appointed CSJ to conduct a survey to locate displaced people and assess the economic rehabilitation, if any.
- Internal displacement
CSJ initiated to address the issue of internally displaced people through Aantarik Visthapit Hak Rakshak Samiti (AVHRS) which was formed in February 2007. The next move was to take the plight of Internally Displaced to Delhi. A public hearing was successfully organized at Delhi on April 4, 2007 in which 250 representatives of displaced families took part in the public hearing and their representatives met the NCM, the NHRC and the Election Commission of India.
After 6 long years, the central government considered the Gujarat Riot 2002 victims at par to the victims of Anti Sikh Riots 1984 and promised to provide compensation to 2002 riot victims.
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Earthquake in Kutch (Gujarat), 2001
CSJ swung into action soon after a massive earthquake rocked Kutch and caused widespread damage across Gujarat. CSJ became part of a large network of organisation called “the Kutch Navnirmanabhiyan” which coordinated civil society efforts towards disaster recovery.
At the time, the organization was in a constant engagement with the government trying to ensure that the schemes and policies announced address the ground realities. Suggestions made by CSJ are reflected in the earthquake rehabilitation policy framed by the Gujarat government.
The organization also helped monitor the process of distribution of rehabilitation package, developing a design for the purpose that was subsequently utilized for other similar disasters. An output of the process was a comparative study of various relief codes and a Model Disaster Code for the state which was proposed by the organization.