IT was a disaster that left a state in India ravaged - but one that touched the hearts of people in Hampshire.

Now, more than three years after a huge earthquake claimed thousands of lives and reduced buildings to rubble, youngsters in Gujarat have their lives back on track.

Hundreds of children will start lessons this summer in a brand new school that has risen from the ruins thanks to Daily Echo readers and the Vedic Society Hindu Temple in Southampton.

The Daily Echo-backed earthquake appeal raised £35,000.

The cash has been ploughed into rebuilding a secondary school that was destroyed - and education chiefs in the town of Anjar have named it Southampton Vedic Society School in tribute.

Money from the fund also helped build a new primary school nearby, in conjunction with the local Lions Club, that will be used by about 800 children.

Since the earthquake, youngsters had been having lessons in temporary shelters.

A ceremony was held to mark the opening of the secondary school, with Vedic temple trustees Raj Kuma Chadda and Harkishan Mehta invited from Southampton as special guests.

Mr Mehta said: "Everyone there is so pleased with it. In the speech I gave I mentioned all the work that people at the temple and in Southampton did, as well as the Daily Echo.

"We were given a very warm welcome.

"Before the children had been in temporary classrooms, like marquees.

"They just had to do as best they could, as there was no lighting or heating there."

Money raised from the fund, along with additional donations collected at the temple, has also been used to build several one-bedroom homes in the region.

Temple leaders are still looking for donations to help build even more.

Naresh Sonchatla, vice-president at the temple, said the secondary school scheme had been their major goal.

"Southampton has achieved tremendous recognition in the state of Gujarat for building these projects.

"The people are so appreciative of what we have done.

"With the school, we wanted to do something that was not just a one-off project but something that would last for generations."

Among the victims of the tragedy in January 2001 was Ashok Nathwani, who died after a building collapsed in the city of Ahmedabad.

The consultant community paediatrician, from Titchfield Common, near Fareham, was in India for a medical conference.