Indian delegation on disaster management visits Sri Lanka
COLOMBO: On an invitation from the task force for
rebuilding the nation (TAFREN), a two member high level delegation from
India comprising senior Government officials with extensive expertise in
disaster management, Mrs. Santha Sheela Nair and Dr. J. Radhakrishnan
are on a visit to Sri Lanka from March 6 to 9.
The delegation will visit the tsunami affected areas of
Batticaloa, Ampara and Matara on March 7.
On March 8, the delegation will discuss their experience
of handling the tsunami devastation in Tamil Nadu State in India, with
TAFREN. They will also meet Dr. Tilak Ranaviraja and Dr. Tara de Mel and
address a press conference, states an Indian High Commission press
release.
Mrs. Santha Sheela Nair is currently 'Principal'
Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu, Rural Development Department.
She is an officer of the 1973 batch of the Indian Administrate Service (IAS).
Mrs. Nair has rich experience in handling disasters
particularly floods and cyclones as Municipal Commissioner, Chennai, and
one of the severest droughts ever faced by the State, as CMD, Chennai
Metro Water. Mrs. Nair was made chief of overall relief coordination at
Nagapattinam following the tsunami disaster of December 26, 2004.
The officer along with 11 other officers of the IAS
handled all aspects of immediate relief and restoration at Nagapattinam.
Mrs. Nair has earlier visited Sri Lanka in 1997 on a study of South
Asian water utilities and their relevance to Chennai and Tamil Nadu.
Dr. J. Radhakrishnan, District Collector or Government
Agent, Nagapattinam joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1992.
He has had experience in tackling the fallout of the
Kumbakonam fire in July 2004 in which 94 children perished wherein
counselling and psychological support programmes were extensively used.
After the tsunami he was rushed to Nagapattinam which
was the worst affected district, initially for rescue and relief and
subsequently given charge as Collector of Nagapattinam.
As in Sri Lanka, the tsunami killer waves struck the
Tamil Nadu coast on 26th December, 2004 in addition to other parts of
India.
The tsunami affected 13 districts of Tamil Nadu
extracting a death toll of about 8,018 persons, rendering 1.26 lakhs of
people homeless, and destroying the livelihood of fishermen and others
in the coastal areas.
Nagapattinam was the worst affected with 76 per cent of
the deaths while Kanyakumari and Cuddlore were also severely affected.
In addition to loss of lives and boats, the tsunami
caused extensive damages to the fishing harbours, fish landing and
auction centres, caused salination of ground water and sand entering
agricultural and horticultural fields.
The damages due to the tsunami have had a cascading
effect on the coastal economy and also religious tourism in places like
Velankanni and Nagore apart from its impact on wildlife sanctuaries
along the coast and impact on tourism in Kanyakumari district.
The relief operations were organised in three phases,
the first phase consisting of search, rescue, evacuation, organising the
cremation/burial of the dead and organisation of relief camps, the
second phase of providing immediate relief and the third phase
consisting of permanent rehabilitation which has already begun.
The entire administration was galvanised by the State
into an effective machinery to provide relief and succour to the
affected persons.
The mobilisation of sanitary workers from the entire
State to retrieve and identify the bodies and arrange for the burial or
cremation of the dead was instrumental in preventing any outbreak of
disease. Doctors and health workers rushed in to provide excellent
service to keep the threat of any epidemic at bay.
Lakhs of men, women and children were accommodated in
relief camps where food, clothing and shelter were provided. This
Government presented a detailed memorandum detailing the devastation and
damages wrought and seeking assistance of Rs. 4,800 crores from the
Government of India to undertake relief and rehabilitation.
The Government has already sanctioned money for
construction of new permanent houses, livelihood rehabilitation
particularly for fishermen and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure.
The response of non governmental organisations,
voluntary agencies and the corporate sector has been tremendous. The
Government has set out a clear framework for the continued participation
of these agencies in the permanent rehabilitation measures. |
