Bhujio Dungar (1)

Some videos and photographs of my short trip to Bhuj in January. These were shot from my Nokia N72 mobile and a Sony Digicam, while mostly traveling in a SUV from Ahmedabad to Bhuj and back home. The quality of shooting may not impress some of you for that reason.

Bhuj is the administrative nerve of Kutch – the district encompassing one-third area of Gujarat – and a key town along the Indo-Pak border. Although, Kutch is dominated by infertile lands and has had little development compared to the rest of Gujarat, the area’s trade and commerce has started improving under shri Narendra Modi’s articulate leadership in the recent years.

Much of the growth has continued to center around the coastal region though, comprising of Anjar, Gandhidham and Alang, and the interiors have yet to be fully awarded with those benefits. Nevertheless, the tourism centering around the great salt lake in the (interior) Rann of Kutch, where the annual Kutch Festival is held each year, is being promoted to evenly distribute the moolah.

As for Bhuj itself, a small summit called Bhujio Dungar (Hill) sits at one of its corners, but there is hardly any other attraction or the urban lure to help the area’s tourism grow. Yes, there is a Reliance Fresh Mall “in the whole of Bhuj town”, a major hospital and an Akashvani (Radio) Center apart from the basic amenities for sustenance. There is also a museum and a handicraft center called Bhuj Haat in the town, but nothing apart from that to excite the real wanderers. Lots of hard work ahead for the state government, if the area was to be marketed as a tourism hub.

While on the road, much of the infrastructure and green cover between Ahmedabad and Bhuj are found centered across the district of Ahmedabad. The highways connecting various towns are smooth enough though, and full of the essential and non-essential services to suggest why Modi has been hailed as a Chief Minister.

Traveling From Ahmedabad To Bhuj (Mobile Video)

Traveling Back From Bhuj To Ahmedabad (Part -1)

Traveling Back From Bhuj To Ahmedabad (Part -2)

Some photographs

Ahmedabad-Bhuj Highway (1)

Ahmedabad-Bhuj Highway (2)

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Ahmedabad-Bhuj Highway (3)

Ahmedabad-Bhuj Highway (4)

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Ahmedabad-Bhuj Highway (5)

Ahmedabad-Bhuj Highway (6)

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Ahmedabad-Bhuj Railway Track (1)

Ahmedabad-Bhuj Railway Track (2)

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Kutch Salt Farms

Kutch Wind Turbines

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Bhujio-Dungar (2)

Bhujio-Dungar (3)

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Bhuj Town (1)

Bhuj Town (2)

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Bhuj Haat (1)

Bhuj Haat (2)

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Bhuj Haat (3)

Bhuj Haat (4)

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Bhuj Haat (5)

Bhuj Haat (6)

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Bhuj Haat (7)

Bhuj Haat (8)

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Bhuj Haat (9)

Bhuj Haat (10)

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Bhuj Haat (11)

Bhuj Haat (12)

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Bhuj Haat (13)

Kutchi Embroidered Sword

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Masala Dosa, Viramgam

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Ahmedabad received a heavy shower on Thursday night, after having waited in vain for more than three weeks. Monsoon usually starts in Gujarat in the fourth week of June. The continuation of heat and humidity indicates though, more showers might be imminent. Here is a reminder of what happened that night for the NRAs – the Non Resident Amdavadis.

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Ahmedabad’s sky was heavily overcast since the early morning today. It rained uninterruptedly until late in the afternoon. While Modi government’s prime concern was a looming drought until the late Saturday afternoon, the focus sharply shifted towards the serial blasts by midnight. The terror strike left behind a trail of injuries and destruction. It rained heavily on Monday in several parts of the state though, thus lessening the burden of the state administration at least in one area – the lack of irrigation and a diverted power supply to farming to compensate it. Power cuts were taken back on Monday, sensing an improvement in the irrigation scenario around the state.

While Modi’s team regroups to strike back at blast perpetrators, it is more than evident that his plank of peace and security, that won him a landslide victory in the recently held Gujarat assembly polls, is tarnished for the time being. Whatever be the outcome of his skirmishes with the Jehadi elements, which began after 59 Hindus were torched in Godhra in 2002, the mood in Ahmedabad bore improvement at least on Monday afternoon. Some key moments from the same outpouring rain here.