Friday, Jan 07, 2005
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By Our Special Correspondent
CHENNAI, JAN. 6. The Democratic Progressive Alliance has demanded the immediate disbursal of financial aid to the victims of the tsunami and asked the State Government to write off existing loans to fishermen. It also wanted setting up of permanent all party committees at the State and Central levels to oversee relief and rehabilitation efforts. A meeting of the DPA leaders urged that committees comprising elected local body representatives, non-governmental organisations and officials should be set up at the taluk and village levels to oversee the rehabilitation.
Preventive action
The Tamil Nadu Housing Board, the Slum Board and the THADCO should come forward to construct multi-storeyed tenements for the affected families. Sea walls should be built near the tenements, the DPA meet resolved to request the Government. The vulnerable areas should be found and preventive action taken against future disasters, the DPA said. The Central Government should come forward to liberally aid the members of the fishing community, who were the worst affected, it said. Insurance should be made mandatory for all boats in the same manner as it is for all vehicles on the road. To ensure that fishermen would welcome the scheme, the Government should pay the insurance premium for the first five years, it said. The meet asked the Central and State Government to speed up the process of disbursement of aid. Relief works should continue till such time that normalcy returned to these areas. All the fishing hamlets should be provided protected water supply. Cyclone warning centres should be set up at least at Chennai, Nagapattinam and Kannyakumari. Since coastal areas were prone to disasters the East Coast Road should be extended up to Kannyakumari and made into a four-lane road to enable quicker access to the affected areas and for quicker transit of goods and aid. The Central and State Governments should observe December 26 as `tsunami disaster and awareness day.'
Compensation
The fishing trade was among the largest job generation sectors in the State. It also brought in considerable foreign exchange. But no fishermen had ventured into the sea after the tsunami. The State Government should provide fishermen with nets and catamarans free so they could recommence operations. The disbursal could be routed through fishermen's cooperatives, it said. All sand mining operations along the coast should be banned. The seawater incursion had rendered farmlands in parts of Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Villupuram and Nagapattinam useless. Agriculture experts should examine these lands and suggest remedies. The Government should compensate the fishermen at the rate of Rs. 5,000 per acre of crop lost, it said. Just as States that lagged behind in development received enhanced aid, the coastal States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Kerala and Pondicherry that were affected frequently by natural disasters should be given natural disaster relief funds every year. The DPA president, M. Karunanidhi, convened the meet. Senior DMK leaders K. Anbazhagan, Arcot N. Veerasamy and Durai Murugan, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president G.K. Vasan, the Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S. Ramadoss, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary N. Varadarajan, the Communist Party of India State secretary R. Nallakannu, and K.M. Khader Mohideen, MP were among those who attended.
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