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| Tuesday, 04 January 2005 |
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How Mohan saved his fishing village in devastated southern India PUTHUKUPPAM, India, Monday (AFP) When Mohan Phupalam could no longer hang on to his fishing boat and saw the seas frothing white, he let out a yell that saved his village. "Odi pongo, kadal varudadi!" he yelled in Tamil. "Run, the sea is coming!" His cry saved the people of Puthukuppam, a small Indian village 20 kilometres (12 miles) outside the former French colony of Pondicherry. None of the boats survived the December 26 tsunamis. Only a dozen of 60 homes remain standing. But none of the 300 villagers perished. Thirty people died in the two neighbouring coastal settlements. A total of 574 people were killed in the union territory of Pondicherry and nearly 7,793 in surrounding Tamil Nadu - the worst-hit area of India. Village headman Ramasani Dhevaraji describes it as a mircale and thanks 28-year-old Mohan. "The sea was hissing like a cobra .... and the water was rising, rising, rising," Mohan says. A wall of water caught up with Mohan, but he clung to a palm tree which held firm, unlike some uprooted by the force of the water. |
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