Date:30/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/30/stories/2004123002181300.htm

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Tsunami damage put at Rs. 5,500 cr.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 29. Preliminary estimates made by industry have put the economic cost of the destruction caused by the tsunami in India at Rs. 5,500 crores.

The calamity has ruined the local economies of small towns and villages that would take years of concerted efforts to rebuild. Roads, railways and other infrastructure, which have been washed away or damaged, will need substantial investments to rebuild. Funds will also be required to provide basic amenities to the local community which has even lost its tools of trade, the Punjab, Haryana and Delhi Chamber of Commerce and Industry informed the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, at a meeting here today.

Leading a delegation of industrialists, the Chamber president, K. N. Memani, said the human cost and the loss of able-bodied people would take a long time to overcome. He informed Dr. Singh that help was pouring in from many industrial units in north India and arrangements were being made for their disbursement to the affected people.

The Prime Minister appealed to industry to contribute substantially to tide over the crisis. Keeping in view the magnitude of the tragedy, Dr. Singh said all citizens had to rise to the occasion to rehabilitate fellow countrymen.

Contributions continue to pour in for the people affected by the tsunami. Andhra Bank contributed Rs. 2 crores to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund and all its employees have also decided to contribute a day's salary to the Fund.

Deutsche Bank, which has been in India for 25 years, today announced a donation of Rs. 25 lakhs to the Fund.