The Hindu : Other States / Pondicherry News : Survivors uncertain about future

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 28, 2004

Other States

Other States - Pondicherry

Survivors uncertain about future

By Our Staff Reporter

PONDICHERRY, DEC. 27. The day after killer waves hit the coastal villages in the Union Territory an eerie silence prevails. What remain in the fishing hamlets are only dilapidated houses, utensils, clothes and tucked away boats. The survivors, some of them loitering around villages where they once lived and others in special camps, are clueless to what is in store for them.

Though those housed in government schools and auditoriums are being provided with food by government agencies and voluntary organisations desperation to know about their future is writ large on their faces.

One of the survivors housed at a government school near Periyakalapet told The Hindu ``we don't know what the Government is going to do for us. It would take months for us to build our houses and buy fishing equipment. We don't have any money with us''.

Recalling the incident, he said, ``four times the waves swept the villages. I was thrown to the top of a single-storey building and my wife got tucked into the branches of a tree.'' From his village alone 17 people were killed and one person is missing.

Periyakalapet residents said the casualties would have been heavy in the village had not the children gone for tuition classes or had the incident happened little after. Usually, the children play on the beach. Just adjacent to Periyakalapet are the Kottakuppam and Nadukuppam (both in Tamil Nadu) fishing hamlets. Neither could one see much devastation nor was there any loss of life. The boulders on the coast had minimised the impact of tsunami.

Wall construction

They asked the territorial administration to construct such a wall along their hamlet. If a similar wall was constructed the loss of life and property could have been minimal. Their reasoning is not unfounded. Areas such as Vaithikuppam and Beach Road, which have boulders to keep the sea at bay, were safe from the tidal waves.

Meanwhile, fishing hamlets on the Cuddalore Road did not see much impact when compared to the ECR stretch, where there are long stretches of beach.

Ten deaths were reported from Pudhukuppam and Veerapattinam. About 4,000 people have been shifted to various camps from villages on Cuddalore Road.

Though there are no consolidated figures on the number of people who have been shifted to special camps, the police say at least 15,000 in Pondicherry are staying in various camps.

It is also reliably learnt that the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, where most of the injured have been treated and which also acts as a shelter home for many families from Periyakalapet, needs help from the Government with the supply of essential drugs.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News Update

Stories in this Section

Patil announces Rs. 25-crore assistance

JIPMER to hold special camps today

Survivors uncertain about future

Power shutdown

Rangasamy appeals for contributions to relief fund