Date:31/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/12/31/stories/2004123102321700.htm

Back Alert keeps Chennai on tenterhooks

Our Bureau

VICTIM OF THE SEA: A dead sea turtle washed ashore in Chennai (Foreshore Estate) three days after the tsunami devastated coastal areas of Tamil Nadu,Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. — Shaju John

Chennai , Dec. 30

THURSDAY, 11.30 a.m. Chennai is hit by another wave ... a wave of fear. It sweeps along the coast as news spreads of another tsunami threatening Tamil Nadu.

Word has reached that a tsunami is set to strike. With the havoc caused by the one that hit the coast on Sunday still fresh in everybody's mind, the Beach Road empties fast. Only policemen, Government officials and journalists are on Beach Road.

Barricades go up cutting access to and cordoning off the road. People along the Marina are evacuated and asked to move inland. The police brook no arguments as they flag down motorists, even those in Government vehicles, on Beach Road and ask them to turn off into roads leading away from the Marina.

SPOILSPORT: The piers of the boat house at Muttukadu on the East Coast Road in Chennai were damaged by the tsunami that hit the coast on Sunday. About a dozen boats were washed away at the popular weekend destination, run by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation. It could be weeks before anyone can venture out for a joy ride. - Bijoy Ghosh

Senior officials are not informative. When contacted, senior police officials acknowledge that they are on `high alert'. They have information that another tsunami could hit the coast.

Officials who gathered on Beach Road are tight-lipped. Who gave them word about the threat? "The government," they respond.

Building tops are lined with people, all eyes and cameras trained towards the sea. Mobile phones go off, as people further inland want to know what is happening by the sea.

Nothing. Only the sound of the surf breaking on the beach reaches those gathered along the beach. The tension in the air can be felt. Conversation and the occasional laughter are nervous.

The beach is empty. The sandy stretch from the lighthouse to Anna Square is bare, only a few stray dogs roam. Except for fishing craft that lie scattered - remnants of the tsunami last Sunday that caught Chennai unawares.

At the Anna Square a knot of people are gathered. This includes Mr S.S. Pore, Director, Disaster Management Training Institute. Help at last! Here is someone who can talk, and will.

According to Mr Pore, who said that his Mumbai-based institute offers training and consultancy in disaster management, the Central Government received word from Australia, which is part of a group of nations that have developed a Tsunami warning system, about the possible threat.

Tsunamic waves had indeed been sighted more than 100 km off the coast, and was expected to hit the beach at about 1.30 p.m., he said.

While he had seen floods and cyclones, tsunami was a new phenomenon here.

The only model available to India to develop an early warning system is that followed by the countries along the Pacific Ocean. India will have to emulate their technology.

Word again spread that the immediate threat was not present. The wave has probably subsided, Mr Pore suggested.

As the crowds dispersed, one thing was clear. Over the last few days our vocabulary has been enriched by one word with Japanese roots - Tsunami. Tsu - harbour; Nami - wave.

In future when we listen to the weatherman, it is not just to hear word of possible rain.

And the coastal States will have to gear up to face that threat.