Tsunami relief work by RSS, Tamilnadu - 31 Dec. 2004

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Tsunami relief work by RSS Tamilnadu - 31.12.2004

 

At Nagappattinam

 

In the worst hit Nagappattinam district alone, 700

Swayamsevaks are engaged in the relief as on date.

They have removed and disposed of 1,759 dead bodies.

 

In the District, out of the 57 Coastal villages, 38

have been affected. Out of them 21 Villages have been

totally destroyed. So far the District has seen a

death toll of more than 7,000 people. 20,000 people

have been affected. The fate of 4,000 people is not

known. The Swayamsevaks have distributed 40,000 food

packets so far. Yesterday (December 30) alone 6,000

food packets where distributed. Also they distributed

clothes, blankets and medicines to the affected

people. 8 teams of doctors are also engaged in

extending medical treatment.

 

In places like Keechangkuppam, Papa Koil etc., where

the situation is so bad that even the Govt. officials

dreaded to venture in, Swayamsevaks were engaged in

rescue and relief work. They removed many dead bodies

which were badly decomposed. It is to be noted that

even after the District Collector's orders, the Govt.

employees didn't go there.

 

RSS has installed a mineral water plant in Tiruvarur.

This plant has started supplying 20,000 litres of pure

drinking water, which has become scarce, to the

affected people everyday.

 

It is a matter of grave concern that at this sad

moment, when so many people have lost their lives and

scores of Children have become orphans, some Christian

organizations like 'World Vision' are engaged in

converting the unfortunate child victims of the

Tsunami.

 

At Kanyakumari

 

Right from day one, Swayamsevaks have been engaged in

rescue and relief work with courage and daring. They

took the people who had lost their homes to safe

places. They retrieved 70 bodies from the AVM canal in

Koottumangalam, Mandaikadu and Ettimadai areas and

sent them to the Mortuary. They rendered medical

assistance to 400 people staying in temporary camps.

On the 26th food was given to 77 people.

 

On December 27, senior RSS workers met the PA to the

Collector. On his advice, under the guidance of

Sri.Radhakrishnan Tahsildar, 210 Swayamsevaks

retrieved 60 dead bodies from a canal. The govt. found

it very difficult to identify and hand over the bodies

strewn in the Kolachal General Hospital to their

relatives. The Swayamsevaks helped the Govt officers

in this task. The Swayamsevaks did the job in a calm,

kind and methodical manner. Everyone praised their

work. Many Christians who were victims of the Tsunami

were among those buried by the Swayamsevaks.

 

One of the dead was a vendor of sweets from Uttar

Pradesh. The Swayamsevaks helped his son Sri.Rajkumar

in cremating his father's body. Because Rajkumar had

difficulty with Tamil, he could not communicate with

the local people. Swayamsevaks helped him by

explaining to him in Hindi the procedure for getting

government assistance. When the Swayamsevaks were

engaged in relief work in Kottilpadu village they were

alerted by sounds of 'please save'. From inside a

thorny bush when they approached, the place it was

found that a lady was fighting for her life. She had

been there for two days. She was immediately rescued

and taken to Kolachal GH. Swayamsevaks also removed 6

dead bodies from the same bush.

 

On December 28, Swayamsevaks helped members of 20

families of Sambasiva Puram in Kolachal who had lost

their houses and all belongings. There 7 People had

lost their life. Because Kolachal has a considerable

percentage of Muslims, Hindus couldn't stay in any

relief camp. They also couldn't get Govt. assistance.

Swayamsevaks made them stay in V.K.P high school in

Kolachal and extended medical help to them. They also

registered their names with the officials and helped

them to get rice and other things. The Swayamsevaks

arranged for the disbursal of Rs.2,000 and clothes

from the Govt. They also helped 25 families to get

Rs.1,000 each from the Ramakrishna Mutt, Chennai. It

was given through the Sri Vivekananda Ashram at

Vellimalai.

 

In the next phase the RSS is planning to extend the

relief work to Veerabhaghupathy and Sothavalai

Villages.

 

A UNITED VILLAGE: Devaneri Kuppam (near Mahabalipuram)

 

Devaneri kuppam is a village situated very near the

world famous architectural marvel of Mahabalipuram on

the Coast of the Bay of Bengal. It is a predominantly

fishing village. It had 300 houses out of which 120

have been totally destroyed. Even the 30 houses which

are built with mortar and cement are badly damaged.

 

RSS Swayamsevaks are engaged in extending relief to

the people there. They distributed food packets and

biscuits to the people. It was a sight to witness

when, the unruly crowd was regulated in an orderly

queue by the village elders and the head men

themselves. They then received the relief materials

from the Swayamsevaks. When towards the end 5 Children

were left out because the stock of biscuits ran out,

the villagers asked several children who had already

received the same, to share their biscuits with those

children. The villagers said that "all the people in

the village are very much united in everything they

do". The Swayamsevaks also had brought some clothes

for distribution. But seeing that it was not enough

for all the villagers they told the Swayamsevaks that

the clothes may be kept in their custody and they may

be distributed when enough clothes are brought in

future. All this show how disciplined and dignified

the villagers are even in the face of the worst

calamity.

 

The Villagers told that they were saved only by the

grace of the Gangai Amman is the Presiding Deity of

the village. They narrated how the 8 foot high idol of

the Devi remained intact while the main door and the

door of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple were

washed away by the waves. They are planning to

celebrate the oncoming festival for the Devi in a

fitting manner and hope that the situation will

improve by then.

 

Because all the boats and fishing nets have been

destroyed, they are badly in need of these to eke out

a living. They told Swayamsevaks that on an average

each family used to earn Rs.1500 per day. They

recalled the incident when they watched on T.V the

victims of the 2001 Gujarat Earthquake rushing to get

food packets air dropped to them. At the time they

were wondering why these people were running after

food packets. Ironically, they are placed in a similar

situation now. They said they never imagined that one

day they would also face a similar problem.

 

Released by Media Centre, Chennai

 

Nataraja Darshan saves lives of 4000 fishermen

While thousads lost their lives in the Cuddalore coast to Tsunami,

close to 4000 fishermen belonging to some 20 villages like Killai,

Pichavaram, Kavarapattu neighboring the Chidambaram region escaped.

They had left their villages to attend the annual ritual of "Arudra

Darshan" at the world famous Nataraja Mandir in Chidambaram. As has

been their practice for generations, they were involved in the

pulling

of the Mandir Car. When they returned to their villages post Tsunami,

they found their entire villages ravaged beyond recognition. Sri

Srinivasakumar a member of the fishermen community told us that they

were saved because of the grace of Nataraja. He stated that inside

the

Chidambaram Mandir, they did not find any impact at all. He concluded

" all of us owe our lives to Him".

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