Reconstruction takes time in India's tsunami-hit areas
11/1/2005 14:51
Two weeks after the killer tidal waves struck India's coastal states
and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, relief work is still going on but
reconstruction has not yet started in many affected areas.
In a fishing
village named Devanampattinam in the Cuddalore district, about 180 kilometers
south of Chennai, the tsunami has killed 76 people including 26 children. Since
the disaster occurred, non-governmental organizations have been distributing
relief items such as food, medicines and clear drinking water to hundreds of
affected people there.
Cuddalore is one of the worst tsunami-hit area in
southern India, with at least 612 people dead and about 60,000 others displaced
by the tidal waves.
India's Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi joined the relief
operations at the village. He and his team in the past week have set up more
than 100 temporary thatched huts to accommodate fishermen and their families
rendered homeless in the disaster.
Rashmi Jalan, a volunteer for the relief
work there, Monday told Xinhua that more temporary huts will be built for the
affected people in the next two weeks but the local government will take the
responsibility for constructing permanent houses for them.
It seems that the
local authorities has not yet got ready to launch such a project. Mahboob Basha,
an assistant project officer at the Rural Development Agency of the Cuddalore
district, said the local government has already released 4,000 rupees (about
US$90) to each affected family.
And within 10 days, the government will start
to build permanent houses that cost at least 8,000 rupees (about US$180) each
for the affected families, Basha claimed.
He asserted the government has also
arranged loans for those fishermen who lost their boats in the disaster to buy
new boats.
However, no signs at the village show the basic relief work will
conclude soon and the rehabilitation is about to start immediately since the
debris left by the tsunami remain.
Things are almost the same in other
affected areas along the eastern coastline from Cuddalore to Chennai. There are
four to five relief camps set up along the coastal highway. Each comprises
dozens of temporary thatched huts.
In another fishing village of Nochokuppam,
which is located on the eastern coastline of Chennai, capital of the southern
Tamil Nadu state, non-governmental organizations and some rich people have been
donating food and clean drinking water for the villagers in the past two weeks,
while the debris of the slums left by the Dec. 26 tsunami have not been cleared
yet.
Deivasundaram, a 54 years old fisherman, said he can not afford to
purchase a new boat since his fishing boat was severely damaged. He said he is
in urgent need of money to restart his daily work and make a living as soon as
possible.
When visiting Chennai Friday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
said while immediate priorities are on temporary housing, medicines and
restarting the victims' livelihood, the long-term measures will include
permanent housing and modern harbor and jetties.
Holding out an assurance of
all help to Tamil Nadu, Singh said the central government will not be lacking in
providing funds for relief and rehabilitation of tsunami victims.
According
to the latest statistics released on Tuesday morning by the Home Ministry, the
Dec. 26 tsunami has claimed at least 10, 130 Indians' lives, left about 5,600
people missing and displaced 646,500 others.
Whereas the loss of human lives
is heavy and the damage to the means of livelihood and the infrastructure is
unprecedentedly severe, reconstruction in the affected areas no doubt will be a
daunting challenge to the local authorities. Therefore, it will need not only
practical action plans but also some effective follow-ups.
Xinhua
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