Tsunami Relief Work by Seva Bhrathi Tamilnadu

Tsunami Relief Work By Seva Bharathi Tamilnadu As On 31.12.2004

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At Nagappattinam : In the worst hit Nagappattinam district alone, 700 Seva Bharathi volunteers are engaged in the relief as on date. They have removed and disposed of 1,759 dead bodies. In the District, out of the 57 Coastal villages, 38 have been affected. Out of them 21 Villages have been totally destroyed. So far the District has seen a death toll of more than 7,000 people. 20,000 people have been affected. The fate of 4,000 people is not known. The Seva Bharathi volunteers have distributed 40,000 food packets so far. Yesterday (December 30) alone 6,000 food packets where distributed. Also they distributed clothes, blankets and medicines to the affected people. 8 teams of doctors are also engaged in extending medical treatment. In places like Keechangkuppam, Papa Koil etc., where the situation is so bad that even the Govt. officials dreaded to venture in, Seva Bharathi volunteers were engaged in rescue and relief work. They removed many dead bodies, which were badly decomposed. It is to be noted that even after theDistrict Collector’s orders, the Govt. employees didn’t go there. SEVA BHARATHI has installed a mineral water plant in Tiruvarur. This plant has started supplying 20,000 litres of pure drinking water, which has become scarce, to the affected people everyday. At Kanyakumari : Right from day one, Volunteers have been engaged in rescue and relief work with courage and daring. They took the people who had lost their homes to safe places. They retrieved 70 bodies from the AVM canal in Koottumangalam, Mandaikadu and Ettimadai areas and sent them to the Mortuary. They rendered medical assistance to 400 people staying in temporary camps. On the 26th food was given to 77 people. On December 27, senior SEVA BHARATHI workers met the PA to the Collector. On his advice, under the guidance of Sri.Radhakrishnan Tahsildar, 210 Seva Bharathi Volunteers retrieved 60 dead bodies from a canal. The govt. found it very difficult to identify and hand over the bodies strewn in the Kolachal General Hospital to their relatives. The Seva Bharathi Volunteers helped the Govt. officers in this task. The Seva Bharathi Volunteers did the job in a calm, kind and methodical manner. Everyone praised their work. One of the dead was a vendor of sweets from Uttar Pradesh. The Seva Bharathi Volunteers helped his son Sri.Rajkumar in cremating his father’s body. Because Rajkumar had difficulty with Tamil, he could not communicate with the local people. Volunteers helped him by explaining to him in Hindi the procedure for getting government assistance. When the Seva Bharathi Volunteers were engaged in relief work in Kottilpadu village they were alerted by sounds of “please save” from inside a thorny bush when they approached, the place it was found that a lady was fighting for her life. She had been there for two days. She was immediately rescued and taken to Kolachal GH. Seva Bharathi Volunteers also removed 6 dead bodies from the same bush. On December 28, Seva Bharathi Volunteers helped members of 20 families of Sambasiva Puram in Kolachal who had lost their houses and all belongings. 7 People had lost their life there. Seva Bharathi Volunteers made them stay in V.K.P high school in Kolachal and extended medical help to them. They also registered their names with the officials and helped them to get rice and other things. The Seva Bharathi Volunteers arranged for the disbursal of Rs.2,000 and clothes from the Govt. They also helped 25 families to get Rs.1,000 each from the Ramakrishna Mutt, Chennai. It was given through the Sri Vivekananda Ashram at Vellimalai. In the next phase the SEVA BHARATHI is planning to extend the relief work to Veerabhaghupathy and Sothavalai Villages.A UNITED VILLAGE: Devaneri Kuppam (near Mahabalipuram)Devaneri kuppam is a village situated very near the world famous architectural marvel of Mahabalipuram on the Coast of the Bay of Bengal. It is a predominantly fishing village. It had 300 houses out of which 120 have been totally destroyed. Even the 30 houses, which are built with mortar and cement, are badly damaged. SEVA BHARATHI Volunteers are engaged in extending relief to the people there. They distributed food packets and biscuits to the people. It was a sight to witness when, the unruly crowd was regulated in an orderly queue by the village elders and the head men themselves. They then received the relief materials from the Seva Bharathi Volunteers. When towards the end 5 Children were left out because the stock of biscuits ran out, the villagers asked several children who had already received the same, to share their biscuits with those children. The villagers said that all the people in the village are very much united in everything they do. The Seva Bharathi Volunteers also had brought some clothes for distribution. But seeing that it was not enough for all the villagers they told the Seva Bharathi Volunteers that the clothes may be kept in their custody and they may be distributed when enough clothes are brought in future. All this shows how disciplined and dignified the villagers are even in the face of the worst calamity. The Villagers told that they were saved only by the grace of the Gangai Amman, the Presiding Deity of the village. They narrated how the 8 foot high idol of the Devi remained intact while the main door and the door of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple were washed away by the waves. Because all the boats and fishing nets have been destroyed, they are badly in need of these to carry on their livelihood. They told Volunteers that on an average each family used to earn Rs.1500 per day. They recalled the incident when they watched on T.V the victims of the 2001 Gujarat Earthquake rushing to get food packets air dropped to them. At the time they were wondering why these people were running after food packets. Ironically, they are placed in a similar situation now. They said they never imagined that one day they would also face a similar problem. (Released by Media Centre, Chennai).

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