People's Democracy

Kerala Also Ravaged

Party Organises Relief Work

THE tsunami waves ravaged southern coast of Kerala, practically wiping out some villages in Kollam and Alappuzha districts.  At the time of filing this report, the death toll is reported at 175, with Kollam accounting for 138 deaths, Alappuzha 32, Ernakulam 4 and Thrissur 1.  It is feared that the death toll may rise by the time rescue operations are completed.

The death waves completely wiped out three wards in Alappad panchayat in Kollam district and parts of Arattupuzha panchayat in Alappuzha district.  The death toll was higher in Allapad as it was thickly populated. The tidal waves smashed small huts as well as concrete houses.  Thousands have been rendered homeless.  They either ran away or perched up on rooftops or trees to save their lives. Entire infrastructure was totally destroyed in these areas.

Those who escaped are put up in temporary relief camps in adjacent places.  The bodies of the dead were cremated en masse in the presence of their near and dear ones and thousands of rescue workers.

The next day, on Monday evening, officials asked people living in coastal areas to move to places beyond 1 km distance from the shore as there was a warning that more tsunamis could strike as an after effect of the killer earth quake. Lakhs of people had to undergo a harrowing experience during that night, forced to live away from their homes in school buildings, government offices or public roads.  Fortunately, there was no untoward incident anywhere.

During the first two days after the tragedy, the government came in for much criticism from many quarters due to the slowness with which it was discharging the tasks of providing relief to the affected people, clearing dead bodies and treatment to injured people.  The CPI(M) and mass organisations like DYFI and others rose to the occasion and reached the scene of tragedy immediately.  They helped in taking injured to hospitals and cremating dead bodies. They collected relief material like food items, clothing, medicines and other essentials in large quantities from various places and distributed to the needy.

A large CPI(M) delegation led by Polit Bureau members V S Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan and S Ramachandran Pillai, central committee members P K Gurudasan, Party Kollam district secretary K Rajagopal, and MP P Rajendran visited Alappad panchayat in Kollam and extended a helping hand to the affected people.

Party central committee member and Alappuzha district secretary M A Baby, Party MPs from the district C S Sujatha and Dr Manoj as well as Party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan visited Arattupuzha panchayat, pacified the affected people and supervised the relief operations.  Here also DYFI and Party workers collected relief material and distributed among the needy.

The state government has announced Rs 1 lakh ex-gratia to the relatives of the dead, Rs 50,000 or 25,000 to those affected otherwise. They have assured one month’s ration free of cost to all those living in coastal areas. All those who have lost their houses will get their houses built by government at an expense not exceeding Rs 50,000.

At the request of Tamil Nadu state committee, Party MPs A Vijayaraghavan and Varkala Radhakrishnan proceeded to Kanyakumari district, which has been badly affected, to assist the affected people and the Party in the relief operations. The Thiruvananthapuram district committee of the CPI(M) is collecting relief material on a war footing. It is expected that two lorry loads of such material will be sent to Kanyakumari district within 48 hours.

(December 29, 2004)