'Memoir for the Indian Political Service - Scheme by Lieut. Colonel L.A.G. Pinhey O.B.E.' [‎14r] (27/44)

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QUETTA EARTHQUAKE
On the night of the 31st May 1935 occurred the Quetta Earth
quake which devastated the City of Quetta and much of the
surrounding area. We were in Ajmer at the time and heard the
news on the wireless. Many of our friends were affected, some
killed and others injured particularly in the City itself and
in the R.A.F. quarters. The main cantonment was hardly affected
and the Army did a tremendous job helping to rescue and recover.
As I had an intimate knowledge of Quetta, I was transferred
there from Ajmer in April 1936 and posted as Additional Polit
ical Agent to help in the rehabilitation of the City and the
villages in the vicinity. I was attached to the Earthquake
Committee headed by the General Officer Commanding the garrison,
Major General Huddleston under the overall supervision of the
Agent to the Governor General in Baluchistan. Senior Civil
Engineers and Police Officers from Sindh and other Provinces
were deputed to help with the clearing of the City and villages
and to hurry regular law and order back to the Province. As
wards in the city were cleared they were re-opened for the
public to return and earthquake-resisting buildings were con
structed. Even after about ten months there were still a few
bodies being dug out of the rubble.
After about a year of my return to Quetta the whole city had
been cleared and businesses and shops were re-opened, largely
in temporary buildings.
One of my functions during this period was to write the official
report on the Earthquake which was published by the Government
of India in 1938. This gives extracts from reports from various
organisations concerned with the rebuilding and reoccupation
of Quetta and the villages with appropriate photographs. Copies
of this report are probably available in the old India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors.
archives.
At the end of this period I went on leave in April 1937. I
returned to Quetta in September 1937 and was posted as Secretary
to the Agent to the Governor General, Sir Arthur Parsons who
was followed in 1939 by Sir Aubrey Metcalfe who had been Foreign
Secretary to the Indian Government. During this period up till
March 1940 I accompanied the A.G.G. on various tours in all
parts of the Province. During this time I accompanied Sir
Arthur Parsons to install the new Jam of Las Bela, a small