Horror as India Collects its Dead

Horror as India collects its dead Katie Hamann in NagapattinumJanuary 01, 2005
ROTTING corpses were still being dragged from sand dunes and out of flattened shanties in the southern Indian district of Nagapattinum yesterday.Criticism of the Indian Government's slow response in mobilising resources is mounting as local authorities struggle to dispose of the bodies and provide much-needed relief.
"We have laymen pulling bodies out of houses," said Thomas Johns, Red Cross district secretary for Erode, 400km from Nagapattinum.
"They may be exposed to many infections. We do not know the condition of the bodies - it should be done by experts."
On the beach, the blackened, bloated corpse of a young girl lay half concealed by a sand bank. Young boys stood around in open-toed shoes poking at her remains with bamboo sticks.
Bits of flesh had been torn from her limbs by vultures that were circling the beach. Dogs had also been seen foraging for dead bodies.
"If you dig here and there, you can still find a lot of bodies," Mr Johns said.
"There's been a lack of manpower and equipment. This is a small place, people should have been pulled from other areas."
Further inland, the twisted limb of a male poked out of the debris, his hand reaching out from beneath a steel fence that had run along the side of a nearby rail line. Its tracks had been ripped from their sleepers and scattered around the village.
Mr Johns drove through the night on Sunday with 18 volunteers and 60,000 rupees ($1800) worth of medicine, non-perishable foods, dressings and innoculations.
"We couldn't even find an official to hand the equipment to," he said.
"In the end, we couldn't wait for the government and we handed stuff to the beneficiaries directly."
In the midst of Mr Johns' complaints, a government official strode up.
"Don't talk to the press, no interviews, no interviews," he said, sweeping Mr Johns aside.
Mr Johns echoed a universal concern made by Indians that too much time and effort had been spent concentrating on touring the VIPs, taking manpower away from the clean-up and rescue efforts.
The director of medical and rural health service, Dr N.Kalyanasuncaram, offered assurances the situation was under control.
"In terms of manpower we are self-sufficient. Drugs and vaccines we are sufficient," he said. "There is a very slight risk of an epidemic breaking out but we are taking all the precautions against this happening."
Dr Kalyanasuncaram said the main priorities were disposing of bodies and the provision of food, water, clothes, shelter and medical supplies.
"Unicef is here," he said.
"They have brought a lot of aid, manpower and experts in sanitation."