Let's not make it a man-made disaster. Review on The Tsunami Tragedy of December, 04, Express Your Feelings

On the morning I landed at Indira Gandhi International airport, New Delhi, death waves had stuck our southern coastline. My mom told me on phone about the disaster and my initial impression was of disbelief. I had wondered for four years along the Marina and Elliot beach(Madras), the waves could never wash away the dirt, coconut peels and human excreta on the shoreline. The sea was always calm, like a petrified child, even during the high morning tides; I swam for hours in the dark blue waters and yet it was as if the sea never knew it had so much life.

And then disaster struck. It was brutal, grotesque, and perhaps even beyond the most violent adjectives. By the evening, e-mails poured in, my ex-IITian acquaintances in Bangalore had rushed in with the help. Saurabh and few of his friends had not slept for days now; he was agitated with the kind of support they were getting. Politicians and Media caused tremendous rush in the sites, there was talk all around of rushing help; but none could reach the affected. Sample this extract:

'The first I, Vamsi and Mani saw of the affected people was at Olcott Memorial near Besant Nagar beach on Sunday afternoon. People from the local fisherfolk Kuppams had arrived by the hundreds. Politicians arrived by the dozen, and the affected who're already reeling under hydrophobia have now turned claustrophobic. Food? Some dal you don't eat, or flour you don't use? There's a mess out there and unfortunately nobody seems to care.'

Saurabh Jain, Software Professional, Bangalore

Isn't it ironical that killer waves have wiped out the first inhabitants of the shoreline. Legend is that Madras is a corrupted form of 'Meenapattanam'(Fisherman's hamlet) and that the local fishermen folk are probably the primary population of the city. Looking back, it is so difficult to believe that those grey, bony huts could ever be the target of the sea that fed them.

And the whole talk of warning systems for evacuation is one whole misplaced theory. For the fishermen, the sea is their livelihood; they have ventured to the water even while there have been predicted cyclones. A Tsunami has not occurred in Asia in last 120 years; even the most educated of us will not be prepared to deal with it. Are our coastal guards equipped in moving millions of inhabitants(most of whom will vehemently protest against it) within hours?

The biggest challenge comes now. It will be psychological, how do we provide solace to thousands who have lost some body.

'They talked of waves four to five meters high, hitting their fragile huts again and again and again. Every hut was wiped out. Every fishing boat destroyed. Every family had lost a child. '          - Saurabh

And then there?s the sociological issue. Every fishermen village is situated on the coastlines and the non-fisherman higher caste villages are on the other side of the East coast road. Now that the Tsunami has removed all their means of livelihood, how do we ensure their moving back to the'normal track of living'? Like India's half a billion daily wage earning population, fishermen too live hand to mouth on daily sustenance. They do not have any alternate source of income, period. Once the population who's now living in all those relief camps goes back to the coastline, what will ensue is difficult to predict. For one, it will not be easy for them to venture onto the sea; especially for ones who've lost their children and near ones in the tragedy. The government will need to invest a lot in buying them back their boats and fishing nets. The investment is probably the easiest part; asking them to return to the same sea which cruelly robbed them will be more difficult.

Then there's the issue of support. The TN administration despite being ruthlessly efficient is extremely caste sensitive. While there's tremendous lack of strategic foresight, thanks to a violently rigid social order, yet there is some hope. There's a need to keep the cycle of aid moving, to ensure that nobody dies of starvation, to ensure that decomposed corpses are cremated rightfully. While natural disasters are seldom avoidable, man made ones should be.