The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : MANAGING THE ANDAMANS CRISIS

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Monday, Jan 03, 2005

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MANAGING THE ANDAMANS CRISIS

THE PRIME MINISTER's initiative in setting up an Integrated Relief Command (IRC) for the tsunami-hit Andaman and Nicobar Islands and his solemn assurance that "the Centre will meet all the costs of rehabilitation in the islands" have come not a day too soon. The armed forces, with a unified command of the three wings in place and a great deal of experience in this unique region of India, will play the leading role in this crisis management effort. The consequences of the December 26 tsunami strike have been several times more disastrous for these Islands — above all, for the Car-Nicobar group — than for the rest of the country. Distance from the mainland in combination with the difficult terrain has made rescue and relief operations all the more challenging. In some of the islands, the authorities have been able to do little more than airdrop essential rations and carry out a preliminary survey of survivors. Although the Air Force, the Navy and the Coast Guard managed to evacuate a few thousands from the badly hit islands, tens of thousands more were left behind. Airstrips and jetties have been damaged, transport vehicles washed away, and telephone lines rendered non-functional.

The situation — and specifically, the crisis of basic infrastructure and communication — is such that the authorities have little clue of the actual death toll a week after the tsunami spent itself on the shores of the Nicobar Islands. The official estimate of a few hundred deaths is based on a pathetically inadequate body count. Government agencies have begun to realise that the number of persons reported `missing' should be brought under the `presumed dead' category, and this might add up to a few thousands. Equally worrying is the fact that there are several thousands of `unaccounted' people. This category came into being on account of the mismatch between a preliminary reckoning of survivors based on figures community leaders gave the relief teams after a headcount and the census-based population data. To complicate matters, there has been no survey of the so-called uninhabited islands. Everyone agrees that not all islands officially termed `uninhabited' are actually so. Many Nicobarese had settled on some of these islands and nobody has any idea of the human toll in this category.

As days go by, it will become increasingly difficult to maintain tens of thousands of homeless people in these far-flung islands. In relief centres opened in Port Blair, not more than a few thousands can be taken care of for any length of time. Understandably, refugees with relatives in other parts of India are being encouraged to take the option of flying free-of-cost to the mainland. But over a reasonable period the Central rehabilitation programme must be able to provide all displaced people who wish to return to the Islands with decent homes and access to proper means of livelihood. In the near term, the emphasis must be on easing the pressure on the relief-delivery mechanism in the affected areas of the Nicobar Islands, which are separated from the Andaman group by the Ten Degree Channel. Most Administration officials in the affected areas are themselves tsunami victims, and in no position to deliver effective relief to others. The need of the hour is not more food and medicine, but better coordination and fail-safe, sensitive ways of reaching the life-saving goods and services to every child, woman, and man hit by the tsunami. The IRC, which will rely mainly on the sterling qualities of armed force personnel and needs well-coordinated support from the civilian administration, can make all the difference to the future of the people of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Hindu joins the people of India in wishing the IRC success in this vital task.

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