The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Task of rebuilding boats begins

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 03, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Task of rebuilding boats begins

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JAN. 2. When the Army and the district administration started clearing the debris at Akkaraipetti in Nagapattinam, big boats that were washed ashore posed a problem. Repairing them to make them sea worthy was no easy task. It took a few days of persuasion before fishermen accepted any help to restore their boats.

"We have begun working on four or five boats," says Brigadier Jose Manavalan, head of the Madras Engineering Group, which is overseeing the relief operations. "But today being a Sunday we could not find the spares that we wanted. The Confederation of Indian Industry has promised to get them for us."

Brig. Manavalan is confident that he will have at least ten boats at sea by tomorrow. "The fishermen do not have nets and other equipment. Hence, they will not venture into the sea. What we are doing here is symbolic. But we need those symbols," he said.

The operation did not take off smoothly given the state of mind of the affected people. Also, the fishermen normally got major spare parts from Tiruchi. The silt and sand filled engines dampened the enthusiasm of even optimists. "We told the fishermen we will bring Tiruchi here if need be," said Brig. Manavalan. Many of the fishermen were aware of the work done by the Madras Engineering Group; the group had laid a Bailey bridge at Karaikkal in about six hours, restoring a vital link between Karaikkal and Nagapattinam.

After watching the group at work today, the fishermen slowly joined them, Brig. Manavalan said. "I have only five boys who can help with the repair work. Now 10 from the village have come in. Another 10 boat owners want their boats repaired and put back at sea," he said over phone from Nagapattinam.

Heartening gesture

The officials managing relief operations in the area conceded that it would be a while before the fishermen could venture back to the sea. But it was heartening that they had come forward to repair the boats. "It is a good sign that they are coming forward. We expect more people to accept the offer. All of us are constantly talking to the affected and telling them that we will be there to help them," said J. Radhakrishnan, Thanjavur Collector, who is part of the team that oversees relief in Nagapattinam.

There are hundreds of boats all over the coast and rebuilding them will take time. "In my reckoning, there are15,000-20,000," Brig. Manavalan said.

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

Tamil Nadu