UK offers India earthquake 'advice'

Thousands are still struggling to make ends meet

A British company is advising an Indian state which was devastated by a massive earthquake a year ago this week.

Scottish engineering firm Babtie Group won a $1.3m contract to work with officials and engineers in the western state of Gujarat.

A key part of the work will be advising Indian officials on earthquake design - strategies which can also be employed to help the state cope with other natural disasters.

The quake - which struck on 26 January - killed at least 15,000 people and caused damage estimated at $3.1bn.

Nearly one year later, thousands of people are still struggling to make ends meet and waiting for their houses to be rebuilt.

Prior to the earthquake, Gujurat was one of India's most prosperous regions, the second most industrialised state in the country and home to many refineries and petrochemical plants.

'Safe' buildings

This latest project is funded by a $625m loan from the Asian Development Bank.

Part of the group's job will be to train people to understand "what is required by way of earthquake design" as well as "advice on disaster management", Babtie Group's chief earthquake engineer Alan Stewart told the BBC's World Business Report.

"The actual design codes which India has for buildings is pretty good. I don't think it is as much a code problem as an implementation problem," he said.

The influential Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry has placed the cost of reconstructing Gujarat at about 150bn rupees ($3.2bn).