Press release on the occasion of the handing over of the first phase of the temporary shelters to the inhabitants of Keechankuppam on 20.01.05


 

Background:

Seva Bharathi, Tamilnadu in association with the volunteers of the RSS and associate organizations immediately entered the affected areas within hours of the Tsunami attack. In some areas the volunteers plunged into relief work even while there was a severe threat of a second Tsunami attack.

Seva Bharathi, a nationalist service organization, which had undertaken such big tasks earlier in the quake hit areas of Latur (Maharashtra), Uttarkasi (UP), Punjab and Gujarat is the Indian arm of Sewa International, an international NGO.

Relief works:

On 26 th , the day of the attack, the relief work was carried through out the night. All the deceased bodies were removed and disposed off in co-ordination with the Governmental relief team. Initially on 27 th and 28 th the concentration was mainly on identification of bodies and handing them over to their relatives. The relief activities were carried out in co-operation with the Revenue, Police and Health department officials.

More than 60 doctors, (24 from Karnataka) split into teams of 8 conducted Medical camps in all the coastal villages and the Relief Camps till 16.01.05. Medical service was also rendered to the non Tsunami affected area to prevent out-break of epidemics. Since then, a permanent medical centre has started functioning from Neela South Street, mainly for treating the Tsunami affected people though other patients are also entertained.

The following is the details of the relief work carried out in various villages

Sl. No

Description

No of Villages

1.

Affected villages

73

2.

Gathering Information

63

3.

Disposal of Dead Bodies

27 (1798 bodies)

4.

Medical Aid

58 (15,000 beneficiaries)

5.

Distribution of Food

33

6.

House hold items distribution

73

7.

Counseling

20

8.

Atma Shanthi Prayer / Shrartham

66

9.

Entertainment for children (story telling, games)

29

 
List of food and other materials distributed in the Nagapattinam District as on 20.01.2005

Sl. No

Items

Quantity

1.

Rice

903 tonnes

2.

Dhal

6500 kgs

3.

Vegetables

16,000 kgs

4.

Milk powder

1,800 kgs

5.

Bread & Biscuit

2.17 lakhs packets

6.

Drinking water (Mineral water)

3.65 lakhs packets of 250 ml

7.

Dress material

1.4 lakhs pieces

8.

Bed sheets

9,600 pieces

9.

Mats

18,000 pieces

10.

Cooking Stove

3,400 pieces

11.

Cooking utensils

7,300 pieces



 

Total value of the materials distribute (including medicines):   Rs.2,61,33,000 (Rs.2.61 crores)

The relief materials were collected by our volunteers from various parts of India and sent them to the base camp at Nagapattinam. The medicines were supplied mainly from the states of Rajasthan and Karnataka.

Seva Bharathi has installed a mineral water plant in Nagapattinam to provide safe drinking water for the city . This plant is supplying 20,000 litres of pure drinking water free of cost to the affected people everyday. However, people from all walks of life including the police, the army, fire service men, and electricity board employees took water from this plant.

Trained woman volunteers visited all the affected villages and provided trauma therapy and counseling services. On the 16 th day, poojas and rituals were performed for the deceased and around 1200 women volunteers from the districts of Trichy, Thanjavur, and Thiruvarur participated in the function.

Rehabilitation Activities:

We are constructing 1200 houses for providing temporary shelter to the inhabitants of Keechankuppam village, the worst affected village in the state.

A comprehensive study was conducted to ascertain the volume of damage in the villages and to understand the requirements of the people for bringing them back to normalcy.

More than 2000 volunteers including 300 women, Doctors, Engineers, Advocates, Auditors took part in the relief and rehabilitation activities. The relief and rehabilitation activities were carried out through the services of our volunteers who averaged 200 on any single day.

All the activities of Seva Bharathi were done with full cooperation of the government authorities.