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Life takes on a new meaning in tsunami-shelters in Tamil Nadu NAGAPATTINAM: It’s been a tough year at the relief shelter for residents of Kottilapdu, a coastal village in Nagercoil. The tsunami last year almost wiped the village off the map, killing 210. But on Christmas, when P Raj and his wife Agnes say their prayers, they will add a big Thank You. On Sunday, Agnes, 26, gave birth to a baby girl—nearly a year after they lost all their four children, three girls and a boy, to the killer wave—after Agnes underwent recanalisation (reversal of sterilization). The baby is named ‘Pratiksha’, wait. It’s also the name of their third daughter. ‘‘Agnes and Raj are so happy. They said the baby looked so much like the third daughter who died,’’ said Dr Indira Surendran, the chief of Dr. Gopala Pillai Hospital in Nagercoil. Raj had gone fishing when he heard the news and he rushed back. He reluctantly returned to the sea after holding the baby. ‘‘The mother and baby have gone back to the shelter,’’ said Dr Indira. It’s not just the family that is celebrating the arrival of Pratiksha. The southernmost district of India has joined in. ‘‘I was describing the baby to my wife. She is so very beautiful with pinkish cheeks,’’ said Kanyakumari collector Suni Paliwal. On Monday, Paliwal went to the hospital to see the baby. The birth is good news to many mothers who lost their children and underwent recanalisation. ‘‘Sixteen mothers, who lost their children to the tsunami, underwent recanalisation at Dr. Indira’s hospital. Six of them are pregnant,’’ said Paliwal. In fact, Paliwal had requested the state government to sanction Rs 25,000 to mothers who wished to undergo recanalisation. ‘‘In October, we got the government order sanctioning Rs 1.70 lakh for eight cases. Another Rs. 2.3 lakh for 15 more cases will come soon,’’ he said. http://www.indianexpress.com/ Mistrust and delays hit plans for tsunami alert
system India, Indonesia and Thailand, the three countries worst affected by last year's tsunami, are among the nations developing their own warning systems after failing to agree on a regional one. Ulrich Wolf of the United Nations Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) says the problem is a lack of trust about sharing sensitive data. But the pace of IOC efforts has been criticised as "hopeless" by the official responsible for Thailand's alert system. An early warning system like that in the Pacific Ocean could have saved lives in 2004, when the tsunami killed more than 220,000 people in a dozen countries. The IOC has reached a broad agreement to install a similar system in the Indian Ocean, but its alerts now look set to be processed at a national rather than regional level. Indonesia plans to spend US$125 million on its early warning network, including sirens along the coast. India hopes its US$28 million system will be running by September 2007. Thailand is installing 62 warning towers along the coastline of six provinces and hopes to have a warning system ready by the end of 2006. The amount of work ahead was shown last week, when
only half of the region's 26 nations responded in less than ten
minutes to an IOC test message. http://www.scidev.net/ Houses yet to be rebuilt in Andamans NEW DELHI: It is a case of a promise swiftly made and forgotten just as fast. Thanks to official lethargy, a gesture of solidarity to last December's tsunami survivors by way of replacing their lost dwellings is proving to be hollow, as CPWD( Central Public Works Department) and NBCC (National Building Construction corporation) have been found dragging their feet over the projects. The Standing Committee on Urban Development in its 12th report has expressed concern that a large number of houses are yet to be constructed. The committee is "perturbed...that CPWD is still drawing up an action plan for construction of 6,650 dwelling units for tribals in Car Nicobar and Southern Islands and 2,700 houses for non-tribals in Little Andamans and Great Nicobar Islands. "The committee notes that although these areas have been severely affected by the tsunami, CPWD and NBCC are yet to begin construction of dwelling units in these areas." NBCC in its response admitted that it has only managed to erect sample dwelling units with pre-fab technology at Hut Bay and Campbell Bay. It was expected to construct 1,700 houses in Hut Bay and 1,000 in Campbell Bay. NBCC officials said: "The Central team visited the Islands in the first week of July 2005 for inspection of the samples. The team has approved the samples. Approval is awaited for taking up construction of the dwelling units." Regarding water supply, the local authorities have managed to restore supply partially from their own resources. NBCC still has to take up the remaining work of construction of water tanks for which funds totalling to Rs 4 crore have already been released. The plea NBCC has given is that the island authorities have not handed over the land. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1341190, Give fishermen livelihoods, not boats - fish
group Rural communities traditionally dependent on fish for food and livelihoods were the worst affected by the tsunami, which destroyed the small vessels and low-technology gear most fishermen used, the World Fish Center said. A year later, efforts to replace lost equipment has enhanced fishermen's ability to catch fish, but they have not tackled the problem of overfishing and severe depletion that existed before the tsunami, the Malaysia-based center said in a statement. It called for a change in the approach. "We did a survey in some villages in Aceh and found there were more boats there than before the tsunami," said Madan Dey, a fisheries expert. The body was working with the Indonesian government to offer technical advice and help to 18 villages in six districts in Indonesia, he said. Tsunami relief had swelled the fishing fleets of some villages to more than 40, against less than 20 earlier, he said. "What we are saying is the focus should not be only on rebuilding boats, it should be on rebuilding the basis of their economic livelihood," said Dey. More than 10 percent of Aceh's fishermen were killed in the Dec. 26 tsunami, and more than 9,600 boats were lost, according to the center. Replacing infrastructure is easy, compared with remaking fisheries policy and changing age-old practices of communities to ensure sustainable livelihoods, it said. "Required today is a major investment from the enormous donations of the world community in projects to restore fisheries productivity," it added. "As well, survivors need retraining and education programmes to find alternative livelihoods." Such a strategy could help lift fish populations in as little as three or four years, Dey said. "Even if fishermen get a good catch, there can be wastage if poor roads make it impossible to get it to market before the fish rots," he said. "Even if it gets to market, the fisherman may not have the bargaining power to get a good price." "What is needed is a shift in the mindset, which is: let's focus on building these communities, let's empower them, rather than giving them a handout, a boat, or equipment." Consensus has grown in support of position of the World Fish Center, part of a network of research groups sponsored by bodies like the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation. A Canadian researcher writing in the journal Nature said this year that international aid, and failed agricultural and social policies, had contributed to the unsustainability of Asian fisheries. Daniel Pauly, director of the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia, said rebuilding Asia's fisheries without structural reforms would only worsen their problems.Instead, emphasis should be put on generating land-based jobs and providing basic education and training to increase the social mobility of local fishers, he said. Alernet Surviors pray, lay wreaths in tsunami memorial About 150 Norwegians gathered for a garden church service near Kata Beach to honour the 84 nationals killed when giant waves struck Thailand's Andaman Sea coastline last year, resulting in 5,395 deaths. "Thailand is a warm country, sunshine, palm trees. But for some people it also feels cold because of their loss," Rune Birkeland, a priest with the Norwegian Seaman's Church, told the sunset ceremony. However, he extended his blessings to "the Thai people in general and anyone else who helped during this difficult period". Emotional family members wept and consoled each other throughout the ceremony as one relative sang two solo songs to honour her nearest and dearest. The Phuket service was one of several events held in the tsunami-hit region as the country prepared for a full day of commemorations on Monday marking the first anniversary of the disaster. Thai authorities say at least 10,000 people will attend memorials to be held in the six southern provinces affected by the tsunami, which killed more than 2,000 foreign tourists. "We have to commemorate the people who died and were injured. We would like to showcase the kindness and generosity of the Thai people," said Suwat Liptapanlop, chairman of the tsunami commemoration committee. He said the Thai government was sponsoring about 2,000 survivors and relatives of victims so they could attend the events. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had earlier announced plans to pay for the flights and accommodation of survivors and the immediate family of victims from Dec. 25 to Dec. 27. Groups helping foreign families to attend services said the Christmas period would be especially tough, with many relatives still struggling to come to grips with their loss. "For people who loose someone, the first year is always the hardest. You go through it all alone," said Knut E. Pedersen, who is helping Norwegian survivors and relatives in Thailand. Other ceremonies were also held across the region to remember the death and devastation caused by the disaster. The head of the British delegation laid a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance at Mai Khao cemetery, where the bodies of at least 700 tsunami victims are still stored. In Khao Lak, where most of the Thai casualties occurred, the Moken sea gypsies launched a ceremonial boat laden with incense and flowers into the ocean to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. The Moken are nomadic fishermen whose ancient beliefs warned them to flee to higher ground if they ever saw the ocean recede. Hundreds of Muslim and Buddhist villagers watched as fisherman launched the brightly coloured four-meter-long boat, wrapped in yellow and pink cloth, into calm seas. Alertnet The Chief Minister said women who were widowed in the disaster would be given Rs.500 a month as pension for ten years from December 26 this year. This is in addition to the other benefits, but would not be continued in case of remarriage. A sum of Rs.15,000 would be sanctioned for marriage of girls in tsunami-hit families up to December 2006, for which Rs.50 lakhs had been earmarked. A revolving fund of Rs.25,000 each would be sanctioned for Kudumbasree units that had suffered damages in tsunami. About 400 units would benefit from this. Mr. Chandy said these benefits would be initially available only to the victims in the three panchayats of Alapad (Kollam district), Arattupuzha (Alappuzha district) and Edvananakkad. A Rs.103-crore scheme to extend these benefits to the affected population in all the nine coastal districts had been submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for allocation of funds from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. He said there was a plan to assist the Nehru Yuvak Kendras in all the nine districts. About Rs.45 lakhs would be provided to 100 kendras in these districts. The mentally and physically challenged among the affected population would be given a monthly assistance of Rs.500 each, irrespective of whether they were direct victims of the disaster. About 1,000 persons across the coast would benefit from this. He said that a memorial for the victims was proposed to be constructed in Alapad village where 21 of the victims had been buried. Another location where 23 had been buried would be converted into a public burial ground. A new block would be constructed for the higher secondary school at Valiyazheeckal at a cost of about Rs.1.1 crores. A desalination plant would be constructed at Edvanakkad at a cost of Rs.1 crore. He claimed the tsunami victims who had not yet been resettled in new houses were being provided with a monthly assistance of Rs.1,000. He said that the State Government had submitted schemes totalling Rs.1,466 crores for the entire coastal area as part of the tsunami rehabilitation programme. Mr. Chandy, who had met the Union Minister for Civil Aviation in Delhi early this week, said that the Minister had agreed to give clearance for the proposed Kannur Airport Project. There was, however, no positive response yet on the proposal for formation of the State airline `Air Kerala'. http://www.hindu.com/ When tsunami helped forge human bond
Religious organisations were the first to set foot on the shores to reassure people that they were with them at that critical time. And they lived not only up to the expectations of the affected people, but also earned their appreciation. The service organisations and non-governmental organisations too joined hands to mitigate the sufferings of the people. Each of these organisations had been assigned a coastal village by district administration to facilitate relief and rehabilitation. Initially, they provided immediate relief such as essential commodities, utensils, milk powder and dresses. These organisations put up temporary shelters and adopted various means, including counselling, to overcome fear of the sea and grief over the loss of their loved ones. To resume the means of livelihood, these organisations liberally assisted fishermen to acquire boats and nets. As per statistics, the organisations had donated 1,215 boats, 2,087 nets, 203 catamarans, 884 engines, and 169 thonies. They had also undertaken to build hundreds of houses. Saffron-clad Brahmacharis of Ramakrishna Math came in droves to Vadakkumudasalodai to build 104 permanent houses. They struck immediate rapport with the local community, despite language barrier, as some of them had come from West Bengal. By their benign presence for months together, they endeared themselves with villagers, and this had helped in speedy completion of the works. Mata Amritanandamayi Math had built 87 houses at Pudukuppam coastal village. The Math had deployed its own set of carpenters, masons and engineers who had rich experience in serving the quake-hit people at Bhuj and Latur in Maharashtra. The beneficiaries lauded the Math for the quality of construction and speedy completion, for it was the first to complete the project. Isha Foundation volunteers made their presence felt by constructing permanent houses at Nayakkanpettai (eight), Periyakuppam (five) and Nanjalingampettai (three). They even tried innovative model of semi-circular concrete dwelling units, reminiscent of the igloos. The Pondicherry Multi-Purpose Service Society, led by Fr. Ratchagar, has taken up construction of 648 permanent houses at Thevanampattinam, and the work is progressing well. The Society is also imparting various skill-development training to fisherwomen. The Parangipettai Jama'ath went all out to render help to the people in distress, and even assisted in the funeral of the tsunami victims. The Jama'ath threw open its kalyana mandapam for the affected people and also took care of their needs for weeks.
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