TAMIL NADU
Altered coastlines, changed lives
V. JAYANTH
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From Colachel in the deep south to Chennai and beyond, Tamil Nadu bore the brunt
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DEEPLY SCARRED: Scenes like this were common near Royapuram, along Ennore High Road, Chennai. PHOTO: Shaju John
Imagine this setting ... a calm and pleasant Sunday morning towards the end of December. All along the Tamil Nadu coast, people are either sleeping or resting in their dwellings, with the children playing on the beaches and others going to or returning from places of worship.
No one had an inkling of what lay in store. The coastal population, most in hamlets, had seen rough seas, but never what they saw on that fateful day.
From Colachel and Nagercoil in the deep south, to Chennai and beyond on the north coast, Tamil Nadu virtually bore the brunt of the tsunami. At least 13 coastal districts were devastated. Nagapattinam and Cuddalore were perhaps the worst affected, with the coastline almost redrawn. The sea, to those affected, has never been the same, with beaches flattened by fierce, giant tidal waves that leapt 10 metres or higher.
Horrific destruction
The State accounted for the largest number of tsunami deaths. At least 7,995 people — men, women and children — not to mention livestock, were consumed by the waves. It took a couple of days for the administration to comprehend the dimensions of this catastrophe. People had heard about seen images of the quakes that hit Latur in Maharashtra and more recently in Gujarat and Kashmir. But a tsunami was not seen, never heard of before.
The scenes were ghastly to say the least. Bodies were discovered on trees, under bushes, beneath boats and sometimes, quite far away from the hamlet the person was from. Boats were twisted out of shape in the ferocity of the waves. Entire hamlets had been washed away The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimated the damages in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry alone at over $1.2 billion.
The Tamil Nadu Government acted swiftly once the initial task of trying to save lives and recovering the bodies was over. The defence forces were immediately called in to help in rescue and relief operations.
Spontaneous relief efforts
But what struck both the administration and the victims of the tsunami was the spontaneous and substantial support and assistance that flowed from non-government organisations, volunteers and industry. Assistance — food, temporary shelters, clothing, utensils and provisions, medicines and promise of permanent housing — poured in from international, national, regional and local agencies. In addition to the Centre's package, which has taken a long time in coming, the World Bank and the ADB pledged support in grant-cum-loan arrangements for reconstruction of infrastructure, rebuilding of houses and restoring the livelihood of the local population.
According to Relief Commissioner R. Santhanam, the State Government sanctioned Rs. 1,136 crores during the past 12 months for tsunami relief and rehabilitation programmes. Of this, Rs. 880 crores has been released to cover housing, the fisheries and agricultural sectors, livelihood, rebuilding of infrastructure, psychological counselling and health and social welfare programmes. About 54,000 houses have been constructed or rebuilt.
In particular, the role of the NGOs in the reconstruction and rehabilitation programme in the State has been commendable. Organisations from far and near had/have deputed teams of volunteers to stay in identified towns and villages to ensure the implementation of projects. During the past month and a half, permanent housing projects have been completed in many villages. In fact, the fishing hamlets now have more vessels than they did before the tsunami.
What has been striking during the past year has been the resilience, the indomitable spirit of people to overcome such a major natural calamity. Nature has not been too kind to the population after the tsunami. Torrential rain during the current North-East monsoon has affected coastal villages and undone some of the good though temporary relief measures.
But despite getting back on track, the trauma and the tragedy of December 2004 still scar the minds of many. Parents have lost children; hundreds of children have been orphaned; whole families have perished in the fury of the waves. But life must go on and that is what has happened in Tamil Nadu.
TSUNAMI A YEAR AFTER
