Survivors of an earthquake that devastated India's western state of Gujarat in January plan to protest outside the headquarters of the United Nations to draw attention to what they say have been inadequate relief measures.
The protests will be spearheaded by Group 2001, an association of survivors from Anjar, one of the towns worst-hit by the quake that killed more than 30,000 people.
The association, which earlier wrote letters in blood to President KR Narayanan, urging him to speed up relief and rehabilitation work, plans to write banners in blood conveying survivors' displeasure, Mr Shyam Sunder, a member of the group, told Reuters today.
A group of about 15 people will go to UN headquarters in New York and hold a protest march, he said. He said the group would travel to New York in June.
Mr Sunder alleged that the state government's rehabilitation initiatives were inadequate and the only way to end the plight of thousands living in tents and other shelters was by attracting the attention of global aid agencies.
The state government has failed to reduce the suffering of the people, let alone meeting their aspirations, he said.
Thousands of people in Anjar still live in tents, tin-roof shelters or out in the open as more than 14,000 houses were either damaged or destroyed in the quake.
Group 2001 is also planning a day-long strike in Anjar on June 3, the day Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is scheduled to visit some of the quake-hit areas in Gujarat.