IANS
Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu), May 26: Wooden crosses mark mass graves at Velankanni, a highly revered church in Tamil Nadu where those of the dead washed ashore after the tsunami who could not be identified have been buried.Elsewhere, broken walls of what were once homes of fishermen still stare at the sea. In one village after another and in the small towns of Nagapattinam district, the memories � and scars � of the December 26 tragedy linger on, although most survivors have picked up the threads of their lives.
On Friday, Mr Bill Clinton, the former United States president and now the United Nation�s special envoy, will get to see many such scenes � and people � when he reviews tsunami rehabilitation at Nagapattinam. Nagapattinam was the worst hit district in Tamil Nadu, which itself bore the maximum brunt when the tidal waves rose to killer heights and swept away almost everything in sight.
Of some 10,000 people who died in India, more than 6,000 belonged to this east coast district with a 147-km long coast. But Mr Clinton will also get to witness the strength of a people who have begun their lives anew after the terrible disaster.
And the man who is doing the maximum to alleviate people�s sufferings will be on hand to explain the state of affairs to Mr Clinton, a friend of India. But the District Collector, Mr J Radhakrishnan is a little bemused with all the media attention. Here, Mr Radhakrishnan needs no Mr Clinton for introduction; he is seen as a messiah, for thousands their saviour. He is the man in charge of the grassroot implementation of the Tamil Nadu government�s Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project, for which the World Bank has provided Rs 18 billion.
The project has helped to build new houses, roads, hospitals, educational institutions and other infrastructure in the affected areas, and helped people get back their livelihood, their boats. The fund will also help develop a green belt and promote a scientific and environmental study of the east coast. The project period lasts until 2007.
�We will try to show Clinton the positive impact of aid from international agencies like the UNDP and UNICEF,� young Mr Radhakrishnan said. The itinerary of Mr Clinton, who arrived in India on Wednesday on his fourth visit in five years, includes a 300-km helicopter trip to a tsunami site. He will also see one model shelter.
The 1.5 million people in Nagapattinam are mostly farmers or fishermen who harvested 100,000 tonne of fish every year from the bountiful sea until December 26. Within minutes on the tsunami, 72 villages were virtually washed away.
District authorities say 17,000 animals perished in the disaster while the sea swallowed 11,122 boats. Some 200,000 terrified men, women and children had to be moved away from the coast, which had been their home all their life. Ten relief camps were opened.
A total of 84 feeding centres set up by NGOs and the administration fed 82,000 people three meals every day, for almost two months. More than 500 armed guards have been moved into the district to protect the UN envoy, the first high-profile foreign dignitary India who has been allowed to visit a tsunami hit area.
(The Navhind Times)
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