Tsunami victims still grappling to lead normal lives

Two-and-half years after the devastating tsunami caused havoc along Indias south-eastern coastline, survivors are still grappling to lead normal lives.

Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu), July 19 : Two-and-half years after the devastating tsunami caused havoc along India's south-eastern coastline, survivors are still grappling to lead normal lives.

The government and the district administration, promised to rehabilitate them, but many complain that they are yet to get relief or shelter.

"For the past two and half years, we have not got housing facilities as promised. There are no proper water and sewage facilities. We have petitioned to the administration, but have not yet got a proper response from them," said Mahalakshmi, a tsunami victim.

"We are 36 families here. We petitioned the collector and were told that within two months, we will receive housing facilities. When we went to him to follow it up, we were asked not to disturb the officer. We would get our dues as promised, but we have not got any news of it yet," said Murugeshan, another victim.

Recently, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had called for the speedy rehabilitation of those affected by the December 26, 2004 tsunami.

Expressing concern over the slow progress of rehabilitation work, especially the construction of houses for the affected people, Dr. Singh directed the Cabinet Secretary to ensure that there was no further delay in the rehabilitation process.

The tsunami was triggered off by an undersea quake measuring 9.3 on the Richter scale, off the Sumatran coast and cut a swathe of death and destruction across South and South-East Asia, killing over 231,000 people.Tamil Nadu was the hardest hit among Indian states, accounting for over 7000 casualties.

ANI