SURVEY of coastal areas of Tamil Nadu affected by the recent tsunami - 28th to 31st January 2005

Velen van u zullen al geld hebben overgemaakt naar giro 555. De reden dat wij u toch willen vragen geld te doneren voor de hulpacties van Mahindra is puur vanwege de bittere noodzaak.

Een bijdrage kunt u storten op rekening nummer 36.60.48.082 tnv Stichting UWC Beurzenfonds te Amsterdam onder vermelding van Tsunami Actie Mahindra College. Er blijft geen cent aan de kerfstok hangen.

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Team Members

1. Sindhu Ramchandran
2. Vinayak Dongre
3. Vignesh Ravi
4. Manaswini Ramkumar
5. Saumya Sankaran
6. Juliane Heider

Schedule for the weekend

Departure from MUWCI: 28/01/2005
Arrival in Chennai: 28/01/2005
Survey of the affected areas: 29/01/2005 & 30/01/2005
Departure from Chennai: 31/01/2005
Arrival in MUWCI: 31/01/2005

Survey Report

In the wake of the devastation of the tsunami that hit South and Southeast Asia on Dec. 26, 2004, many relief efforts have been made by various parties. The Mahindra United World College of India (MUWCI) showed a great interest in doing its part to aid in these efforts. In order to assess where the funds we raise should be allocated, and what projects we might participate in, we needed to send members of our community to the affected coastal areas in Tamil Nadu. A group of six (including admin staff, a teacher, and four students) from MUWCI was sent over a weekend to survey the tsunami-affected areas of Tamil Nadu, i.e. Chinnoor, Velankanni, Akkarapettai, Nachapatti, Pushpavanam, as well as to meet with representatives of NGO's working in and around Chennai.

The team travelled along the east coast, stopping at makeshift camps and affected villages to observe the effects of the devastation and talk to the people there about their experiences. The extent of the devastation, both physical and psychological, has been severe. We found that the disaster destroyed a lot of property, affecting mainly the fisher folk, farmers, and all those who relied on the chain of business for their livelihood. Many were washed away from streets, houses, shops, restaurants, and religious buildings in the morning hours.

In the first village we surveyed, Chinnoor, we observed major destruction to the boats of the fishing community. The villagers told us that the tsunami struck their village around 8:55 a.m., when the fisherman were preparing for the morning catch. Many ran at the sight of giant waves, but due to the thorny terrain of this particular village, many were unable to run away from the shore. The women's sarees and jewellery got caught on thorns and trees, hindering their passage to safety. In total, 120 people and more than 80 boats in the area were badly affected. The boats were thrown almost 1 km away from the shore, leaving them broken and unrepairable. The estimated replacement costs for the damaged boats and accompanying nets are between Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 300,000, depending on size. Although the villagers have not been able to resume their lives and livelihoods, the government has provided them with food packages (60 kg per family) and nominal monetary aid (Rs. 4,000 per family) to sustain their immediate survival.

At this point, a group continued on to villages further south, while another returned to Chennai in order to meet with NGO's previously contacted by MUWCI.

At Velankanni, the situation was found to be much more devastating than in Chinnoor since the tsunami struck the former three times between 9.10 a.m. and 9.20 a.m., causing great destruction to mankind and material. Two shore side hotels were submerged along with 240 odd shops and the coastline has now moved 1 km further inland. A place where there was once a grass lawn has now turned into a beach, and tar roads are covered with sand. Being a religious area that receives many visitors at Christmastime, Velankani had one of the highest death tolls on the coast. People in and around the church, on the beach, or in the vicinity after midnight mass were killed in their sleep by the morning wave. Around 500 people still missing are now believed to be dead. Here, the government gave each family Rs. 20,000 for immediate survival after the disaster. In addition, it provided Rs. 10,000 for the loss of a child, and Rs. 30,000 for the loss of a house. The famous Velankani shrine (church) is now planning to support around 60 school children as part of relief and aid efforts.

A visit to Akkarapettai showed yet another fishing community left without homes and without livelihoods. Here, the force of the tsunami broke a bridge, which has now been temporarily replaced.

The last stops were Nachapatti and Pushpavanam in the Nagapattinam district, where group of MUWCI students are itended to do volunteer work over a period of five weeks. Here, people from the Center for Youth Development and Activities (CYDA) and from Kamraj Rural Development Society, both of which are organizations that are now working closely with the villagers, told the survey group about the work that needed to be done there. The representatives of these organizations mentioned activities such as interaction with children, including sports, art, and music. Other work involved helping the farmers in regaining their land and finding possible solutions for salinity harvesting. Also volunteers with technical and specialized skills would be of great help.

In the meantime, the other group that eventually returned to Chennai was able to visit Cuddalore, another badly affected coastal area. Here, they met the district collector and were able to get some further contacts of people working directly in the area.

Once back in Chennai, they went to visit the SOS Children's Village in Tambaram which is one of the potential targets of our fundraising money. Each child here is sponsored with five to six donations of Rs. 6,000 each per year. As the government is imposing strict regulations on adoption the village is waiting for the government to approve its proposal to take in children orphaned by tsunami. After visiting the SOS Children's Village the group went on to meet representatives of NGO's that were previously contacted from the college to explore long-term volunteer activities such as summer camps and gap year options.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Having seen the devastation along the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu after the tsunami we realized that it is of foremost importance that the people affected be able to regain their livelihoods and resume their normal activities. With this in mind we believe that the funds raised by the college should be focused partly on providing boats and nets to the fishermen community. In addition, we would like to sponsor children orphaned in the disaster so that they could live in a SOS Children's Village. Furthermore, we are exploring the possibilities for long-term community service based on the interaction with the NGO's thus far.