The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : IT sector lends a helping hand in Nagapattinam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 31, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

IT sector lends a helping hand in Nagapattinam

By R.K. Radhakrishnan

NAGAPATTINAM, DEC. 30. The State's point man for Information Technology, Vivek Hari Narain, was busy directing an earth mover in Keechankuppam, a fishing hamlet located at a short distance from the district headquarters this morning, when the news came in: move out everyone. One more tsunami is on the way.

He alerted his colleague in the service, J. Radhakrishnan, who was into similar work at Akkaraikottai, an adjoining fishing hamlet. Nearly a third of the population of both the villages has been wiped out — and new bodies are being dug up from the slush every hour. Twenty-two were scooped out of the debris and slush today to be given a more decent, mass burial. The count when the evacuation orders came: 751 adults and 66 children. "There will be more. There is so much slush that each time we dig we are finding more bodies," says Mr. Hari Narain. In his reckoning, the numbers dead at Nagapattinam could well cross 5,000.

"It is like nothing that we have dealt with before," said the Public Works Minister, O. Paneerselvam, waiting to receive the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, at a makeshift helipad. The Chief Secretary, Lakshmi Pranesh, and the State Relief Commissioner, R. Santhanam, were also present. They had travelled from Chennai to brief the Prime Minister on the extent of damage.

But the tsunami warning — which had to be taken seriously — spoilt everything. People were asked to clear out of the area and conservancy workers were moved back to Tiruvarur. "We would have found and buried all the bodies by nightfall," said Ms. Pranesh. But no one was ready to take chances regardless of the fact that the time predicted for the tsunami to hit the coast — half past noon — ticked by harmlessly.

The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, who landed here before noon was also told about the warning. Hence, she too could not visit the two fishing hamlets. "She was very keen to visit Akkaraikottai and console the people. We had made all arrangement," said Mr. Paneerselvam.

The Prime Minister's entourage of three helicopters made its way to the town from Tiruchi around 2 p.m. One of the three, an Mi-8, carrying media, Intelligence and security personnel landed at the helipad. Just then news came in that the Prime Minister would not land. The security personnel, including a joint director, hurried back and the helicopter took off.

There has been a lot of support once word spread that Nagapattinam was the worst affected. It helps that the State IT secretary is also the zonal commissioner for the Nagapattinam areas. It helps that senior IAS officer, Santha Sheela Nair, is also in the town to oversee relief operations. IT majors have committed support on the ground and have been handling details of logistics for the district administration. Their management has ensured that there is no shortage of essential supplies anywhere in the worst affected areas. "Every IT company has come forward to help in one way or the other," says the IT secretary.

But there were complaints galore. Primarily from the Union Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, who said there was no relief work in Mayiladuturai. Twenty-eight villages from Parayar to Chandrapadi had suffered extensive damage. But the Government did not do anything. "Even the bridge was repaired because the Prime Minister was slated to come," he said.

He says there is no point in three or four IAS officers sitting in Nagapattinam. He blames the media for not highlighting the plight of the inaccessible areas.

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