Tsunami survivors still at nature's mercy

By Siddhartha Kumar Dec 26, 2006, 5:16 GMT

New Delhi - Two years after the giant tsunami waves slammed coastal areas in southern India, thousands of survivors are still lodged in temporary shelters, struggling to overcome traumatic memories as they meet the challenge of rebuilding their lives.

The Indian Ocean tsunami killed more than 12,000 people in four Indian states as well as a federally-administered territory and inflicted damage and losses of about a billion dollars.

At least 7,900 deaths were reported from 12 coastal districts of the southern Tamil Nadu state, Nagapattinam being the worst-affected, where over 6,000 people lost their lives.

Latest estimates by various NGOs indicate that only 20 per cent of the planned permanent housing has been constructed thus far in India, though the local administration had promised to finish the construction by the end of 2006.

In Tamil Nadu, over 40,000 families inhabit temporary accommodation, many of them roughing it in shelters which have outlived their utility and are unable to withstand the vagaries of nature.

For the families, it has been a series of harrowing experiences starting with the Tsunami. They braved the floods last year and the incessant rains this year huddled in shelters which had leaking roofs, damaged walls and were located in low-lands having lack of sewage facilities or storm-drains.

One of the shelters in the Kovalam village was flooded, forcing most of the 50 families to move out. Mennalkoti's family was still holding out, living on a cemented platform in the deluged camp.

'For the last two years we have been living in fear of the rains ... but have survived as the monsoons are nearly over,' said Mennalkoti, a fisherman's wife, with a distinctly ironic smile.

'Now we would have to brace for the summers as it gets very hot in the shelters,' she added.

The situation is not very different at several shelters located in other districts such as Kanyakumari, Kanchipuram and Villupuram. Residents complained that healthcare was often neglected and they face a constant threat of water-borne diseases like diarrhea, with poor waste management and sanitation facilities.

'While there were regular visits by doctors and nurses earlier, we have to go searching for them now,' said a resident of a shelter in Kottakuppam town, requesting anonymity.

A study conducted by the prestigious Loyola College in the state capital Chennai found that over 75 per cent of the 180 shelters surveyed needed urgent repairs.

'Temporary shelters which were only meant for five months have been used for over two years and need repairs on a regular basis,' said Ashok Gladston Xavier, a social work lecturer at Loyola College who conducted the survey.

'There was no proper disaster management plan. When it was known that the people would have to stay in these shelters for a considerable period, they (shelters) should have been constructed according to standards,' he added.

The study also found that in half the shelters, people did not have access to safe drinking water and health services.

Though the state government was faring better on rehabilitation work compared to last year, efforts need to be stepped up, Xavier said.

Coen Van Kessel of Oxfam, an NGO, said that although a number of recovery and long-term development programmes such as rebuilding livelihoods, education, disaster preparedness were on track, 'there is a delay in construction of permanent housing because of which a lot of people are suffering at many places.'

In the remote Andamans and Nicobar Islands off the Tamil Nadu coast, where 1,800 people died and 10,000 families still live in temporary shelters, construction of permanent houses has only just begun.

Frustrated with the delays and not being consulted in the designing of their homes, people have taken to the streets and have organized protest marches.

The survivors, however, will have to cope with hardships for many more months because all permanent housing is now expected to be handed over to the beneficiaries only by 2008.

According to the Tamil Nadu government, 16,514 of the 54,100 permanent homes have been handed over to the families. Another 25,000 houses would be ready by the next year, said CV Sankar, a senior official who supervises rehabilitation work.

'Construction of permanent houses has proved to be our toughest challenge, but it is realistic to expect such large-scale projects to take time,' he said.

'Building of multi-hazard resistant houses takes time because we have to involve the community, the NGOs in planning and the design. Besides, it was held up because of availability of land and massive floods last year,' he said.