iland. (7 Jan 2005)
The South Indian Federation of Fishermen's Societies (SIFFS) provides information about the impact, relief and reconstruction efforts post tsunami directly from the most affected communities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India.
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) summarises damage across the region and the reconstruction needs of the millions of farmers and fisherfolk in coastal areas who have been affected by the tsunami disaster.
Natural disasters are not a rare occurrence along the coastal tract of Asia. We always have a tidal wave here, a cyclone there, or a typhoon brewing somewhere. Despite the warnings beamed over early warning systems, all these acts of nature result in the loss of life and property. We have become immune to such media reports of nature's fury. Most often they are distant events. As long as we are not the affected party, these coastal natural disasters come and go. There is the momentary sense of pity; sometimes an effort at reaching out to the anonymous victims. Then our lives move on.
The post-Christmas tsunami seems to have changed all this. This nameless, stealthy killer came in broad daylight, totally unannounced. Those who were fishing at sea did not perceive its presence. Those on land had no living experience of such wave behaviour and fury. It devastated the coastal communities of several countries all at once. It has traumatized those for whom Mother Sea was a source of life and sustenance. The adage that the oceans unite us and land mass divides us became undisputedly true -- except that this was not unity in life, but rather, in death and destruction.
A tsunami is a silent sub-surface wave train formed as a result of tremendous release of energy in the ocean floor due to an earthquake or volcanic eruption. Tsunami waves travel in the ocean at great speeds akin to that of a jet airliner. There is little dissipation of energy even after covering long distances. As tsunami waves reach the shallower water near the shore, friction with the continental shelf slows the front of the wave. Then the trailing waves pile onto the waves in front, like a rug crumpled against a wall. This makes the wave rise up to 30 feet before hitting the shore. Although greatly slowed, a tsunami still bursts onto land at high speeds, with enough momentum to flatten buildings and trees and to carry boats from the shore miles inland. Their onslaught on land comes without wind and rain. They strike with great stealth and surprise.
Fisherfolk are traumatized by the fact that the sea, in a rare display of fury, has deceived them and taken away their children, family members and property. The position that this was nature's fury, which no human agency could predict or prevent, is untenable. Coastal communities, scientists, the government and civil society are asking several important questions. Could thousands of lives have been saved if proper Coastal Regulation Zone plans had been implemented without pleading for numerous exemptions in the name of ‘development'? Could short and long terms measures have been taken to mitigate the extent of devastation inflicted on the coastal communities? If all fisherfolk had been given housing sites on the landward side of coastal roads would not the death toll have been lower? If natural green-belt barriers (such as mangroves, wind breaker trees) had been in place, would the damage to property and the death toll have been reduced? If the coastal communities had been given disaster management training could more lives have been saved? If the prime responsibility, as well as the finances and material resources, for safety and rescue were vested at the community level would the response time to the crisis have been more rapid and the damage greatly mitigated?
The answer to all these questions is a big YES! We now realize that the costs of neglecting several basic and simple precautionary measures have been so huge in terms of human lives and property. While the shock of this unprecedented disaster is still on own minds, it is the duty of those