Karnataka - Madikeri   

Virajpet volunteers return from Nagapattinam

By Our Staff Correspondent

MADIKERI, FEB. 1. As many as 21 volunteers from four youth associations in Virajpet, who carried 13 tonnes of rice, clothing, drinking water, medicines to Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, returned to Virajpet recently.

Speaking to presspersons here, the President of the Nagarahole Foundation, A.M. Suraj, said the team visited Keechurukoppam, a village on the shores inhabited by fishermen, with the help of K. Parameshwaram of Rajayoga Association. The tidal waves had destroyed over 1,800 houses and wiped off over 70 per cent of the population, he said.

Army personnel had pulled out many bodies from destroyed boats. They visited the Damayanti School where 70 orphans had been rehabilitated. They distributed 20 bags of rice to the children, he said.

Members of Embark Youth Association, the Nirmalagiri Yuvaka Sangha and the Donators Youth Club were on the team.

At Nagoorpattanacheri, 232 houses, of the 274, had been destroyed and 880 people had died. Nearly 100 children had been orphaned. Villagers told them that Mata Amritanandamayi had promised to start an orphanage there. Bundles of clothes sent by people were lying unused there, he said and added that the villagers did not want to use old clothes.

Mr. Suraj said the villagers were happy to get pongal from donors on Pongal day (January 14). At Vettikarpanirruppu village, 25 people had died and over 600 had become homeless. Rice was distributed there through Bharati Mahila Mandala. But the team was in for a different experience on its way back as a group of over 80 women stopped the truck carrying the items and demanded that they be given rice stating that they too were victims of tsunami. This was not true. But they had to part with two bags of rice before going to Velankanni, Mr. Suraj said.

Larwins, a panchayat member, cooperated with the team at Velankanni. There were harrowing tales of people severing limbs of the dead to gather gold and silver jewellery, he said. As many 440 persons received rice from the team. They went to Serathur village to be helped by the chief of the village, Kovitheni. The same stories unfolded at Kuthupalli, Vishuvanthavadi and Pushpavanam, Mr. Suraj said.

A woman sat in the middle of a mound of sand on the shore for 20 days after the tidal waves struck. She had drawn three lines over a piece of wooden plank and was pouring milk on the sand to remember her four children who had died.

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