Tsunami & After

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Villagers furious with Christian Missionaries

     Samanthapettai: Rage and fury has gripped this tsunami-hit tiny Hindu village in India's southern Tamil Nadu after a group of Christian missionaries allegedly refused them aid for not agreeing to follow their religion. Samanthapettai, near the temple town of Madurai, faced near devastation on the December 26 when massive tidal waves wiped it clean of homes and lives. Most of the 200 people here are homeless or displaced , battling to rebuild lives and locating lost family members besides facing risks of epidemic,disease and trauma. Jubilant at seeing the relief trucks loaded with food, clothes and the much-needed medicines the villagers, many of who have not had a square meal in days, were shocked when the nuns asked them to convert before distributing biscuits and water. Heated arguments broke out as the locals forcibly tried to stop the relief trucks from leaving. The missionaries, who rushed into their cars on seeing television reporters and the cameras refusing to comment on the incident and managed to leave the village. Disappointed and shocked into disbelief the hapless villagers still await aid. "Many NGOs (volunteer groups) are extending help to us but there in our village the NGO, which was till now helping us is now asking us to follow the Christian religion. We are staunch followers of Hindu religion and refused their request. And after that these people with their aid materials are leaving the village without distributing that to us," Rajni Kumar, a villager said.
- Jan 16, 2005

Tsunami survivors continue to struggle in the islands (Go To Top)

     Andaman: Three weeks into the quake and tsunami that altered the landscape around the palm-fringed Andaman and Nicobar, people are sill marooned in the island chain. People do not venture out of what is left of their homes and some live in houses where the ground resembles a pond. The relief that people are getting is confined to the camps positioned on high ground on the roadsides. The only pipeline bringing potable water sticks out from some place and lies submerged in other places. Giant waves have swept large amounts of sand and debris into lagoons and filled shallow waters around the island. Unable to move out for lack of transport, locals hoped the authorities would do something to restart bus services. "I can see for myself that moving out from here is so difficult. The bus service is not there and the water pipe line is also damaged. We want the authorities to do something about restarting bus service," said Suryanarayana, a resident. Officials said new strategies have to be devised to restart agriculture and give jobs to people. "People do not have something to eat, there is no shelter, there is damage to livestock, there is damage to plantation crop, be it banana or be it areca nut, there is considerable loss. So we will have to devise strategy by which job opportunities could be provided. We will have to devise strategy which effective second crop can resort to cultivation, we will have to resort to how vegetables could be produced and made available," Mangala Rai, director general of Indian council of agricultural research, said. The archipelago, which is 1,200 km from India ,was hit by almost 130 tremors of more than 5.0 magnitude after tsunami.
- Jan 16, 2005

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