Thousands of words have been written and published in connection with the 10th anniversary of the December 26, 2004 tsunami waves which ravaged the East Coast of the country. The tidal waves had claimed thousands of lives along the coast of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and southern Kerala in the West Coast.
If a tsunami wave strikes the Tamil Nadu coast on Friday, December 26, or any other day in the near future, the effect will be more devastating than that of 2004. When asked what they would do in the event of a tsunami wave striking the coast in the future, members of the coastal communities expressed their ignorance as well as helplessness to The Pioneer.
Though it is more than ten years since the killer waves carried away their dear and near ones, none of the residents along the coastal regions could tell what a tsunami wave is. “We do not know what to do in the event of a tsunami. Till date nobody has told us about what to do in such an eventuality,” said Jaya Palayan, president, South Indian Fishermen Federation.
Shanmugam Vinayakam, a Karikattukuppam village fishermen who lost his house and other belongings in the 2004 tsunami , said though he has been provided with a house as part of the rehabilitation programme, he is not aware of what he should do when the next tsunami wave strikes the shore.
In 2004, India did not have an early warning system to forecast the possibility of tsunamigenic waves. “Though handicapped because of a Minister-like Kapil Sibal for whom science and technology meant cricket, scientists of the Indian National Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) at Hyderabad under the leadership of Dr Sylesh Naik, the then director, developed a brilliant tsunami early warning system.
It can pick up any abnormalities in the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea and forecast within minutes whether the strange patterns are tsunamigenic or not,” said a senior scientist. Dr Satish Shenoi, director, INCOIS, said as on date, India has the best tsunami early warning system. “We provide real time data to almost all countries in the rim of the Indian Ocean,” said Dr Shenoi.
Dr Srinivas Kumar, head, Tsunami Early Warning Centre, said any earthquakes occurring the sea is analysed using a computer model to forecast the possibility of any tsunami waves. “We can disseminate the information at least 20 minutes before the arrival of the waves. It is for the civil administration to evacuate the people to safety in the golden hour,” Srinivas Kumar said.
But the bureaucrats and politicians constituting the local administration has done nothing in the last ten years to create awareness among the people about the dos and don’ts in the event of a tsunami attack. “Nobody has told us anything about disaster preparedness,” said M Ilango, chairman, National Fishworkers’ Forum and Justin Antony, Tamil Nadu Fishermen Development Trust.
