The Hindu : Front Page : Manmohan promises all help to tsunami-hit in Andamans

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 09, 2005

Front Page

Front Page

Manmohan promises all help to tsunami-hit in Andamans

By Vinay Kumar

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh consoling a tsunami victim at a relief camp in Port Blair on Saturday. — PTI

PORT BLAIR, JAN. 8. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, today visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to see for himself the extent of devastation caused by the December 26 tsunami tidal waves. A visibly moved Dr. Singh extended the Centre's helping hand to the survivors of the tragedy to rebuild their homes and their lives.

Assuring all assistance to the traumatised people, Dr. Singh said the Centre would provide food, shelter, education and employment to the affected families whose sources of livelihood had been wiped out by the killer waves.

For the Prime Minister, it was a journey of sorrowful discovery. In one relief camp after another — across several villages in Campbell Bay, Car Nicobar and Port Blair — he heard from the inhabitants heart-rendering tales of survival.

The victims narrated how the tsunami flattened villages, uprooted houses and cut off vital road links. He got a first-hand account of destruction from eye-witnesses and victims, some of whom survived without food and water for three to four days before they were rescued.

"We will do everything possible for you. All possible assistance by the Government will be given. It may be free ration, help to rebuild houses, roads and schools. I am with you in this hour of crisis and I have come from Delhi to lend my support to you," an emotionally moved Dr. Singh told the survivors.

The Prime Minister saw the flattened colony of the Indian Air Force officers at the Car Nicobar Airbase, visited relief camps in Campbell Bay, Kakana and Malacca villages in Car Nicobar and other relief camps in Port Blair.

The spread, sheer magnitude and the scale of the tsunami tragedy easily dwarfed the super cyclone of Orissa and the Gujarat earthquake, said several workers of disaster management teams in Car Nicobar.

What Dr. Singh saw today on his day-long visit to the southern part of the devastated islands was only a sample of the fury that was unleashed on the islands and southern coastal States about a fortnight ago. Several villages still remain inaccessible but rescuers have not called off their mission.

Expressing sympathy with the victims at the Campbell Bay relief camp, Dr. Singh said the lives wiped out by the tsunami tragedy could not be brought back but the Government would help the survivors pick up the threads of their lives again.

It was a "national tragedy," he said. Later, he announced an aid of Rs.200 crores to the local government for implementing immediate rehabilitation measures.

Beyond the immediate relief, the Centre will focus on comprehensive rehabilitation plans for the islands to be implemented "in a project mode." In addition, school examinations for Classes X and XII will be held a few months later, mobile telephone connectivity will be provided in major islands and additional helicopter services be provided by Pawan Hans.

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

Front Page

News Update

Stories in this Section

Manmohan promises all help to tsunami-hit in Andamans

Is Prabakaran dead or alive?

`Job guarantee can help fight under-nourishment'

Order on Acharya's bail plea tomorrow

India's poor need a radical package: Amartya Sen

Five MLAs resign

Patna jailor threatened

266 fishermen return

Militant killed, encounter ends

Contributions to The Hindu Relief Fund