Report from India

The following report, sent by friends in India, helps us understand more the affects of the tsunami on the lives of people in India.

Dear friends,

Greetings.

I hope you are aware of the Tsunami attack in Asia which killed thousands of people and left millions homeless. In India the regions of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry are the worst affected regions. In this region alone nearly 5000 people have died and about six hundred thousands of fishermen are rendered homeless.

Unexpectedly on the morning of 26th December myself and Victor, three other lawyers from the Dalit communities were proceeding to Cuddalore to attend a Legal Aid Camp organized by the Dalit Land Rights Federation. While we were proceeding we noticed hundreds of women and children alighting from trucks weeping and crying. We stopped and enquired about them. We came to know from them that they are fisherfolk from the coastal villages of Cuddalore district who have narrowly escaped the wrath of the sea. Having heard their narration of this sorrowful event, we proceeded to Cuddalore Town. By the time we reached Cuddalore we saw number of human bodies being carried in to the Cuddalore General hospital. It was two hours after the incident and by this time the number of the dead in Cuddalore district alone was 400. We were helpless and proceeded to the villages-with the help of some of our friends living near Cuddalore we have decided to do some relief. By this time news of devastating Tsunami poured in from Pondicherry and other parts of Tamil nadu. We contacted all our friends living near the coast of Tamil nadu and alerted them to do some immediate relief work. We visited affected villages in Cuddalore district and Pondicherry region and four villages in Villupuram Taluk.

The next day we started to do some relief measures. At the same time we deeply studied the whole situation and decided to intervene with a long term perspective. As we were in the coastal villages I could not send you mail.

These are some of our observations which we could get during our relief work.

First time in the recent history, the fisherfolk have experienced the Tsunami attack. Thousands have died and thousands were left homeless- the attack was so sévère that some villages have been completely washed away.

The Government's figures about the loss of lives and properties are totally incorrect.

All the fisherfolk have lost their sources of livelihood like the Kattumaram, fishing nets, boats and fish processing sheds.

The fisherfolk who had always loved "mother sea" are terribly afraid of the sea. They are all undergoing a trauma.

The relief camps are utterly under sub-human conditions without proper shelter, drinking water and other sanitation facilities. The relief camps are also totally disorganized.

In the name of relief measures, perishable goods like cooked rice packets are flooding from all the corners which are wasted.

We spoke with many number of fisherfolk in their relief camps who are still under the grip of the Sunday tragedy.

Presently Action Aid India with many number ofInternational NGOs has formed a PLATFORM to interne effectively in the rehabilitation process.

With the members of this Platform we spent two days fully with the fisher folk in the different relief camps and had preliminary discussions about the rehabilitation issue. At the end of these discussions we had a long meeting among ourselves and decided to intervene in the rehabilitation work which should start from the communities themselves. In this rehabilitation process Dalit Land Rights Federation would also play a major role. We are all meeting in Chennai on 1st January 2005 to finalise the approaches and strategies regarding rehabilitation.

In any way if you feel that you can also be part of this process of rehabilitation you are most welcome.

Thanking you,
Sincerely yours,
C. Nicholas.