The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Mass burial in Nagapattinam, toll 1500

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

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Mass burial in Nagapattinam, toll 1500

By K. Subramanian and S. Ganesan

The bodies of some tsunami victims lying scattered on a Velakanni road. — Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam

NAGAPATTINAM, DEC. 27. The toll in yesterday's tsunami tragedy has risen to about 1,500 in this coastal district. Hundreds of bodies were still under sand in the coastal areas, it is said.

Official sources told The Hindu that the district headquarters hospital had received about 900 bodies till this morning and about 300 were found at Velankanni, 200 at Nagore and about 100 in other parts such as Sirkazhi and Tharangampadi.

A senior IAS official said rain this morning and in the afternoon on the Nagapattinam coast hampered relief work. People were afraid of going to the shore to remove the bodies lying there, as rumours spread that tsunami waves would hit the coast once again.

According to the locals at Nagore, Velankanni and Nagapattinam, the toll would be more than 3,000.

A mass burial of hundreds of bodies took place on the municipal graveyards at Velipalayam here, at Velankanni, Nagore and also on Nagapattinam-Velankanni Road.

Huge pits were dug and about 100 bodies, which were brought in municipal lorries dumped there. They were then closed. Relatives just handed over the bodies to the district administration for burial. M. Veera Shanmugha Moni, Collector, said nearly 900 bodies, which were brought to the Nagapattinam Government hospital till this morning were removed immediately and sent for mass burial. He said instructions were given to the officials to bury the bodies in the respective areas and not to bring them to the hospital. All the bodies were handed over to the relatives without post-mortem. Most of the bodies could not be identified.

The Collector said 73 relief centres were opened at Nagapattinam, Velankanni, Mayiladuturai, Sirkazhi and Vedaranyam. The affected families were being provided food and shelter. More than 40,000 people had so far been evacuated to safer places, he said.

A large number of tourists who came to Velankanni for Christmas were missing. Relatives from Kerala, Karnataka and Goa had started pouring in here and were reporting about the missing family members.

Fishermen's colonies vanish

Fishermen have borne the brunt of the waves in the district. Dozens of their colonies were swept away without trace as the giant waves turned into watery graves for the men who eke out a living by the sea.

Seruthur, a fishermen's colony about a km from the Velankanni shrine, is one such settlement, which has disappeared. The tsunami has wreaked havoc on Nagore, Keechankuppam, Akkarapatti, Velankanni, Seruthur, Vedaranyam and Poompuhar.

After the disaster, the number of people "belived to be alive" by the village administrative office has come down to 1,100 from 1,800. The colony had about 230 fishing boats, that too expensive fibreglass ones, and 30 catamarans, according to S. Subramanian, one of the eight panchayatdars (equivalent of village headman). A majority of the boats have been washed away, while a few others lie scattered around, broken and twisted.

The village lost a number of young children who were playing cricket on the beach on Sunday morning. The body of one lay on the shore this morning. Most of the villagers still do not know "who has lost who in the family." There is no word on the fishermen who ventured into the sea early on Sunday morning.

Relief agencies are yet to reach the village. "We have no shelter, no water and of course, no food," says Subramanian. A few policemen stood guarding the corpses. A medical team, which reached the village, did not have much to do. They took count of the bodies piled up in front of the primary health centre.

A temple on the beach was razed to the ground along with several huts and semi-concrete houses.

"It may take months, perhaps years for us to recover," said Subramanian. The fibre boats, along with the nets, cost quite over a lakh of rupees. Fishermen had borrowed money from private lenders at high interest rates to buy the boats. "We have not only lost lives, but also our livelihood," said a fisherman.

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