Debris from shacks and trawlers is strewn around Cuddalore beach on December 31, 2004, five days after it was hit by deadly tsunami waves. | Photo credit: PTI
it Gagandeep Singh Bedi had a close shave of death on December 26, 2004 when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit Tamil Nadu. The Cuddalore District Collector was in Tamil Nadu at a sea front hotel in Mamallapuram to attend an AIDS workshop when he got a call at 9 am from a fisherman in Cuddalore telling him that the sea had “flooded” and his village had been destroyed. When Mr. Bedi was about to end the call, he saw a big wave in front of his hotel and ran out of the room. Only then did he realize the extent of the disaster.
Mr. Bedi reached Cuddalore. As it was not safe to travel on the East Coast Road in Chennai, he traveled through Tindivanam. “I went to the government hospital for the first time, where I saw a large number of dead bodies,” recalls Bedi, now Additional Chief Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj. Thanks to a team of district officials, including Rajendra Ratnu, who is now the Executive Director of the National Disaster Management Institute, D. Commercial Taxes Commissioner in the Government of Tamil Nadu. Jagannathan and Anu George, who are one. Secretaries to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, he initiated the process of emergency relief. “Within (a) few hours after the tsunami, the district administration was active in rescuing the affected people and taking rehabilitation measures to (restore) normalcy of life,” states the Cuddalore District Disaster Management Plan, 2024.
One of the key decisions Mr. Bedi had to make was the disposal of the body. Considering the seriousness of the situation, the state government accepted the Cuddalore administration’s proposal to relax the condition of post-mortem before disposing of the body. “The then Commissioner of Revenue Administration and State Relief Commissioner R. Santhanam got approval for my request in no time,” recalls Mr. Bedi. After discussions with senior members of the fishing community, a mass cremation was arranged on the evening of December 26.
The scale of destruction was unprecedented. Mr. Bedi says the loss of life and cattle was “very significant”: 610 people died in Cuddalore and 38 were missing. Public infrastructure has been affected. 31 villages in the coastal area have been affected and around 5,000 fishing boats have been damaged.
Cuddalore received a lot of attention nationally and internationally. Film actors like Vivek Oberoi, Smriti Irani and Poonam Dhillon, Swiss tennis player Roger Federer and former US President Bill Clinton visited Tamil Nadu or were involved in relief work. Although criticized by Mr. Oberoi – the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa later accused him of doing nothing and trying to spread the word. “But celebrities have the ability to generate goodwill. We, the authorities, tried to tap into that and succeeded to a large extent. At the same time, we maintained a respectful distance from them,” says Mr Bedi.
Kanniyakumari, the southernmost district, suffered the highest death toll (799) followed by Nagapattinam (6,065). “There were 72 people who were never traced. 44,000 families in 33 coastal villages have been affected,” says Sunil Paliwal, chairman of the Chennai Port Trust. He was transferred from Theni to Kanniyakumari as collector nearly two weeks after the tsunami.
Given its location, the district was not in the spotlight like Nagapattinam and Cuddalore. However, that was not a problem for Mr. Paliwal and his team. “The district administration itself has taken many measures. Mr. Santhanam was very responsive and supported us.
What he remembers most is that the delicately balanced religious mix of the district’s people (Hindus 48%, Christians 46% and Muslims 4%, according to the 2011 census) was no obstacle to the relief and rehabilitation of the district administration. measures. “I call Kanniyakumari a place of complete communal harmony,” says Mr. Paliwal, adding that he can see the sense of unity among the people in times of calamity.
Both Mr. Bedi and Mr. Paliwal stay in touch with the people of the district. In their assessment, people have left behind the trauma of the tsunami.
published – Dec 26, 2024 at 01:25 pm IST