The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Still dependent on help

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Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Still dependent on help

Deepa H. Ramakrishnan

For people displaced by the tsunami, life has just not been the same

Photo: M. Vedhan

Livelihood Tsunami-hit women readying pickles at Royapuram.

Life has just not been the same after the tsunami. Having started afresh, the affected people living along the coast now find it difficult to swim against the current. “We still live in damaged houses as the non-governmental organisation that promised to build new houses has not fulfilled its promise. When we approached the government for the 100-odd houses the reply we got was that they did not have funds for tsunami rehabilitation,” said D. Ranjithkumar, a fi sherman of Kadalur Aalikuppam village near Kalpakkam.

Though damaged boats and nets were replaced, he says that big trawlers with costly nets take away what little catch the sea offers. “The sea is not what it was… the fishing seasons have changed and we do not make as much money as we used to earlier. And with increasing prices, survival is difficult. But right now our biggest problem is the house, it has cracks and leaks and we don’t make enough to build a new one,” says Mr. Ranjithkumar, whose M.A., M.Phil in Economics and B.Ed have not helped him get a job.

After the tsunami, the local church came to the aid of this six-member family of Pakkam village near Pazhaverkadu. Living alongside a river, Sarala”s family is among those in the area who live by catching prawns (eraa) in the river by night and work as daily wage labourers by the day.

“Initially we did get rice, pulses and oil from NGOs and the Government amount but that slowly stopped. Though we try and manage with our incomes, at times when the situation is really bad we go to the church father for help.”

The land, which the family takes on lease to cultivate casuarina has become saline and the number of prawns they get has reduced. Their mud house was hit by the surging waters and the family now lives with relatives.

Though the tsunami put these families out of work for some time, the timely intervention of an NGO helped them back on their feet. These 24 women, the makers of Sea Dot Pickles, are eternally gratefully to Rajendran of C Dot, who helped start the venture two years ago.

“If we make and sell more than 50 kgs of prawn and fish pickles a day, we can make a profit quite comfortably. Till now we have been selling our products locally but now we have licences and we are negotiating with dealers to market them on a larger scale,” explained Kalyani, one of the members. They are all wives of labourers, who work on the boats. “We were not given boats since we did not have boats before the tsunami. And none of us can afford to buy even small sized boats costing around Rs.1.5 lakh. We don’t have houses or property against which we can take loans,” said Justin Mary.

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