The Hindu : Karnataka News : Bank branch made a quick recovery after tsunami

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 07, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Bank branch made a quick recovery after tsunami

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JAN. 6. "Before seeing the damage I never imagined the ocean's waves could be so ruthless,'' the Vijaya Bank Chairman, M.S. Kapoor, who has returned from the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

When the tsunami struck Port Blair in the early hours of December 26, the earth too trembled, he was told by the bank's staff there.

Damage to bank

Though at a higher elevation and beyond the actual reach of the waves, the bank did suffer damage. Walls developed cracks and huge steel bureaux fell down; the computers went on the blink because the UPS was damaged, spilling acid all over the rooms. "The ledgers and other records too were damaged but our staff rose to the occasion and the very next day they were serving customers," Mr. Kapoor said.

Vijaya Bank has offered a Rs. 10,000 ex gratia payment to its seven staff members there to reward their loyalty and dedication to duty.

Mr. Kapoor was at Port Blair on January 4 and 5 when there were tremors again. "We could feel the ground shaking,'' he recalled. The local government officials told him he was the first non-government executive to visit the islands after the disaster, he added.

"Vijaya Bank has decided to adopt one of the worst-damaged villages near Port Blair and another in Tamil Nadu, and rebuild them again,'' Mr. Kapoor said.

The bank has handed over Rs. 10 lakhs to the administration of the islands along with contributions from the staff of the bank. An additional Rs. 1 crore is being donated to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund, he said.

"The morale of our staff in the Andamans is high and they are determined to stay and make sure the customers are not left without help at this critical time,'' he added.

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