CHENNAI: Over the last two years, Tamil Nadu has been busy picking up the pieces and rebuilding societies devastated by the tsunami.

Though there is no report card at the end of these two years, there have been some successes, some drawbacks and certainly, lessons to learn.

The waves that smashed several coastal districts — Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Tuticorin, Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Pudukottai and Villupuram — left at least 8,000 dead. Over 10 lakh people were directly or indirectly affected.

It is said the largest number of 370 villages affected were located along the vast Tamil Nadu coast.

Several of these habitations were flattened; those who were fortunate to live had lost close relatives, their homes, boats and all belongings.

The relief work started swiftly, but the challenges of rehabilitation, short-term and long-term, proved great. Shelter and habitat development formed a large part of the tasks, with 91 of the total buildings damaged being schools.

The entire communities had to be rebuilt from scratch; water sanitation and hygiene had to be ensured for all.

Educational infrastructure had to be rebuilt. The affected, especially children, had to be given counselling.

To get the economy moving again, the means of livelihood — fishing and allied trades, agriculture and horticulture — had to be restored; disaster management systems had to be put in place.

At the same time, sustainable development had to be ensured. Tasks that, by their scale and diversity, could not be performed by the Government alone.

When helpwas solicited, assistance — incash and kind — poured in, with local, national and international non-governmental organisations pitching in.

According to C.V.Shankar, Officer on Special Duty, Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation, the State government, with the assistance of the Centre, has provided from its coffers Rs. 784.5 crore.

About Rs.74 crore has been utilised from World Bank funding and Rs.89 crore from the Asian Development Bank.

As it takes stock, the Government says that 35 per cent of the primary task of providing shelters is complete.

A bulk of the work — establishing physical connectivity and better schools, providing water and sanitation to all and making sure the communities are ready to face disasters — is yet to be completed. Since development is a continuous process, the tasks must continue and sustained attention should be paid to the rebuilding process.

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