Anshu Gupta

The remains of the ceiling of one of the houses destroyed in Gujarat earthquake 2001.

An inspection done by Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) of around 250 heritage buildings in Kutch and Saurashtra revealed that about 40% of them were either collapsed or seriously damaged*.

The earthquake caused a major dent to the highly impressive architecture of the area. Gujarat is renowned for beautiful nakashis on the walls, bolted and latched doors and handcrafted artistry. The damage by the earthquake reflected how even the most beautiful artistic things are not excused by the disaster. There was an estimated loss of around 1000 crores as many artistic creations were damaged, this paved the way for collecting scraps which in turn became a very lucrative job.

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