Press Note Tsunami Affected People's Forum, Kerala On 26 December 2004, at 12:55pm, the Asian tsunami hit Kollam, Alapuzha and Ernakulam Districts in Kerala leaving 180 people dead. 2727 houses were destroyed completely and thousands were left homeless and without livelihood. About 27,000 people were affected. A majority of the affected were fisher folk. Hundreds of fishing boats and nets were destroyed completely. The affected area involves a 20 km coastline.
The people from the most affected areas are still housed in various 'temporary' shelters set up along the coast, struggling even for daily food. The four schools fully destroyed, and six others extensively damaged, by the tsunami are still functioning without any facilities for children. Children have no drinking water facilities in schools and the classrooms are still damaged from the tsunami. The Minister for Education and other officials from the Department of Education have not visited any of the affected schools and they have done nothing so far to repair the damage brought about by the tsunami to schools along the affected coast. The government is collecting funds from all schools in Kerala but none of this is reaching the affected schools. The fisher folk in the affected areas are without any means of livelihood and the government has made no moves towards restoring their livelihood. The government has not assessed the damage brought about by the tsunami and the laxity of the government has increased the suffering of the displaced people. Adequate compensation has not been provided to the next of kin of those who lost their lives. Basic facilities are lacking and sanitation is poor in all 'temporary' shelters. Women and children bear the brunt of all the hardships endured by the affected. There is no privacy in the camps and families of those who lost their loved ones have no opportunity to heal their wounds. The government is collecting crores of rupees in the name of tsunami relief and none of this is actually reaching the affected people. They have made several representations to the Chief Minister but there has been no response from him. The government officials including the Minister of Fisheries are ignorant about the present condition of the affected people. To take the government to task for their apparent slackness in providing relief, the local people of Alappad panchayat have formed an organisation - Tsunami Affected People's Forum. The forum has members from all the thirteen wards of Alappad panchayat. This forum seeks to speed up and streamline all relief work in the affected areas and to ensure proper rehabilitation of the displaced. The condition of the women and children is more stark and vulnerable due to a combination of natural and manmade reasons. Psychosocial assistance is absent. The forum will intensify its agitation against the government policy towards victims of the tsunami in Kerala. There have been two major protests so far-a highway blockade and hunger strike in front of the secretariat-but have yielded little but empty promises. With the onset on monsoon-traditionally June-the plight of the affected is expected to get worse. Water logging and other problems of inadequate sanitation will cause epidemics that are clearly preventable. The forum has tried to bring these issues to the notice of the government through highway blockades and other peaceful means of protest. Magline Peter Tsunami Affected People's Forum Vellisherril Veedu, Azhikal P.O., Karunagalpalli, Camp: Bangalore Kollam, Kerala 9 May 2005 phone: 09447154491
