Mr Barua, who heads the crisis management group, was briefing newspersons after the group's meeting and hearing on the spot report from two senior officials who had visited Bhuj.

The state government, he said, had formed 30 teams, each headed by a deputy collector, and equipped with an ambulance, one or two doctors, full crew of construction workers, tractors, buses, phones and tented accomodation, he said.

The teams would fan out in rural areas and small towns to carry out relief and rehabilitation works and render medical assistance, he said. Power supply position in the worst-hit Bhuj town had improved, Mr Barua said, adding that telephone exchange was also now functional. The water supply system was being tested and medical assistance was reaching out to all areas of Kutch, he said.

The state government was now engaged in a door-to-door survey to find out the number of people killed and the damage caused to structures by the quake, Mr Barua informed. Expressing satisfaction at the help being received from various quarters, he said more than 3,000 tonnes of equipment had so far been flown in. The Indian Air Force, he said, had conducted 80 sorties during the last 24 hours and evacuated 700 seriously injured people so far to hospitals outside the state.

Mr Barua said a "comprehensive approach" would be adopted for rehabilitation. Under it, he said, group of villages would be taken up by public sector undertakings for comprehensive rescue and rehabilitation work.

Even private sector bodies might be allocated such groups of villages, he said.

Efforts are on, meanwhile, to restore power supply and communications in the quake-hit areas. Contractors have arrived on site for executing civil works required for restoring six 66KV sub-stations in Anjar taluka. The Power Grid Corporation of India and the National Thermal Power Corporation have been asked to take up the civil works through their own contractors without calling for tenders. The contractors will be required to complete the civil works free of cost and also undertake installation of equipment, which will be procured and supplied by PGCIL and the NTPC.

Diesel generating sets also are now in place in the quake-affected areas to restor power to meet the requirement of essential services, a power ministry press note said.

Railways have also completely restored the broad guage section up to Gandhidham. The Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi announced that his ministry would provide Rs 150 crore for the state's education reconstruction plan. Meanwhile, the banking industry is doing its bit to obviate the miseries causd by the earthquake in Gujarat. BoI will donate Rs 1.5 crore to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF). The bank has twenty branches in Bhuj, the most affected area in Gujarat.

Though most of its branches are either fully damaged or partially damaged, the bank has taken a human approach to serve the affected people by opening up counters to disburse cash on an emergency basis. BoI has also sent a special high-powered team to asses and recommend need-based assistance, which would be channelised through committed and dedicated NGOs approved by the bank.

CBI has approved of a contribution of Rs 1.5 crore towards PMNRF. Further CBI staffers have also agreed to contribute a day's salary as a donation to the PMNRF, which is about 2.5 crore. Corporation bank will extend Rs 1 crore and its will donate a day's salary amounting to about Rs 40 lakhs.

Similarly, UBI which will donate Rs one crore.