PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate memorial for school kids, teachers killed in 2001 Gujarat earthquake

AHMEDABAD: Prime minister Narendra Modi will on August 28 virtually inaugurate a memorial built on the outskirts of Anjar town in Kutch district as a tribute to schoolchildren and teachers who died during the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat. Modi will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat, his home state, from August 27 during which he will take part in a host of programmes and inaugurate or lay the foundation stone of multiple projects.

On August 28, the PM is scheduled to address a gathering in Bhuj town of Kutch district. From the same venue, he will virtually inaugurate or perform ground-breaking ceremonies for nearly 10 projects in the region, said a state government release on Thursday. One of these projects will be inauguration of "Veer Balak Smarak", a memorial built near Anjar town as a tribute to 185 schoolchildren and 20 teachers who were killed during a Republic Day parade on January 26, 2001, when a powerful earthquake, with its epicentre in Bhuj, hit parts of the state. When they were passing through a lane as part of the parade, debris of buildings and walls fell on them due the strong trembler, said the release. Around 100 relatives of these children and teachers have been invited for the function.

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The memorial also has a museum consisting of five sections displaying photographs of the victims, articles used by the children when they were alive, a simulator to make people feel an earthquake and a section to make members of the public aware about the scientific aspects of earthquakes, said the release. The memorial has names and photographs of all the school students and teachers who died, written on a wall. According to the state government, nearly 13,000 people had died across the state in the earthquake.