Gujarat earthquake

Gujarat earthquake

The biggest challenge which he had to face, when he took over as the Chief Minster, was the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the areas affected by the massive Gujarat Earthquake of January 2001. Bhuj was a city of rubble and thousands of people were living in temporary shelters without any basic infrastructure. Today Bhuj is proof of how Modi has turned adversity into an opportunity for holistic development. In this critical situation, Modi is credited with starting immediate work to re-organize and stimulate the local economy.^[19] Modi made an international record of restoration of 876618 houses in just 500 days^{[citation needed]}. For Narendra Modi's outstanding contribution for disaster management and rehabilitation, on 16-10-2003 Gujarat govt got UN Sasakawa Certificate of Merit for outstanding work in the field of disaster management and risk reduction.^[20]