On January 26th, 2001, a devastating earthquake struck Gurat, India and left about 20,000 dead and destroyed over 100,000 homes. It was a monumental disaster, but for the government-controlled mining company GMDC, it was also an opportunity to acquire lignite-rich villages without dealing with “messy issues” like compensation, resettlement, alternate farmland and grazing rights. Aftershocks documents the process of acquisition and displacement, and shows its human impact. It engages in the ongoing debate of environment versus development as it examines the fate of two towns transitioning into the new economy of the new millennium. Directed by Rakesh Sharma, India, 2001, 68 min.

Cosponsored with the South Asia Program, the Department of Rural Sociology, and International Studies in Planning