Tamil Nadu   

Tsunami rehabilitation: still many hurdles remain to be cleared

Staff Reporter

Focus on permanent mechanism for coordinating activities in times of disaster

Chennai: Tamil Nadu while outlining its achievements in tsunami rehabilitation over the past 20 months acknowledged that it still had several hurdles to cross.

R. Santhanam, Commissioner of Revenue Administration, called for a permanent mechanism for coordinating activities in times of disaster. "Although considerable work had been done on the rehabilitation front using the public-private participation model, a permanent mechanism of interaction needs to be developed," he said at a consultation meeting to take stock of tsunami recovery.

He admitted that the temporary housing structures built by the State Government had come in for sharp criticism from several quarters especially as the quality and design of the shelters were not of very high standard. "We are now working on developing guidelines and designs for the shelters," he said.

A problem that the State Government was facing while setting up shelters for tsunami victims was the conflict between livelihood and safety of the people, Mr. Santhanam said. He added that the Government was trying to ensure the safety of people for generations by adhering to the Coastal Regulatory Zone guidelines while setting up homes.

Some of the other problems that the State was trying to address were the overexploitation of marine life due to excess distribution of boats to people in tsunami affected areas, sustainability of self- help groups formed immediately after the tsunami, social vulnerability of the under privileged and protection of women widowed by the tsunami.

C.V. Sankar, Officer on Special Duty, said maintenance of housing structures was proving to be expensive proposition for the Government. He added that sanitation systems and solid waste management systems had to be improved in tsunami-affected areas.

The meeting was attended by officials of various departments from the Union and State Government, members of the United Nations, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Tamil Nadu Tsunami Resource Centre and non-governmental organisations. The achievements of the Government in twelve sectors including livelihood, health and nutrition, social equity, trafficking and HIV/AIDS, education, shelter and habitat, disaster risk management, psychosocial support, environment, water and sanitation and policy support were debated.

L.P. Somkar, Adviser, Union Planning Commission, said States affected by the tsunami had been asked to review the proposals they had sent the Planning Commission in light of the help they received from other funding agencies and non-governmental organisations. The Planning Commission had earmarked Rs. 10,000 crore for tsunami recovery.

N. Vinod Chandra Menon, Member of the Union Government's National Disaster Management Authority, said Tamil Nadu had provided several lessons to other countries on disaster management. He said lessons from tsunami rehabilitation in Nagapattinam had been used in Indonesia. Mr. Menon stressed for coordinated efforts between the State Government, funding agencies and non-governmental organisations.

Gagandeep Singh Bedi, District Collector of Cuddalore, said disaster management committees had been formed in 681 villages. He added that exit paths had been identified in several villages to facilitate easy getaways in times of emergency. Drills were being conducted in the district for emergency preparedness, Mr. Bedi said.

Tamil Nadu Tsunami Resource Centre's publication On the Shores - NGO initatives to Tsunami Response, was launched at the event. A short movie on achievements in tsunami rehabilitation Waves of Change - A tsunami relief story, was also screened for the audience.

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