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Tsunami- Relief and Restoring Livelihoods & Habitats DHAN Foundation Initiatives - Update 7 January 13, 2005 I. Tamil Nadu 1. Nagapattanam district 1.1 Seerkali Taluka- Kollidam block Housing: The team has completed construction of all 40 houses committed and have constructed an additional two houses in Chinnakottaimedu (mentioned as olaikottaimedu in earlier update 6) village, Thandavankulam panchayat. Common toilet and bathing facility has been constructed for all the families. There are 70 fishing families in this village whose houses were completely washed away. Out of the 70 families, 20 families have left the village and the remaining 50 families are now living in the 42 newly constructed houses. Women and children’s needs: Five women tailors have been identified and provided with sewing machines. Three in Palaiyar village in Pudhupattinam panchayat and two in Chinnakottaimedu village. They will stitch the uniforms for 600 children for which the dress material has been purchased. Agriculture: The team held a meeting with the farmers of Chinnakottaimedu village, in which 40 farmers participated. They expressed their need for desilting and bund strengthening of Packayan canal, Iyyankulam canal and their branch canals. The team along with the farmers has assessed the damage to be 50 acres of wetland and 25 acres of garden land. 132 families are involved in agriculture in this village and their livelihood has been affected. In Tharkasu village of Pudupattinam Panchayat, a soil scientist and expert Mr. Sukumar sent from DHAN has inspected the area and has taken soil and water samples for testing and giving recommendations. 1.2 Keevelur Block The team explored the need and started working in the following eight villages namely Vettaikaran iruppu, Pudupalli, Kameshwaram, Saruthur, Manalmedu, North Sallikulam, South Sallikulam and Vilunthanmavadi. Relief: In Manalmedu village clothes and utensils was distributed. In Pudupalli village 66 trunk boxes and utensils were distributed. In Vallapalam village 320 trunk boxes were distributed. Needs Assessment: The team visited eight affected villages Kodiyakkarai, Kodiakadu, Vedaranyam, Thopputhurai, Arcotthurai, Periayakundhayai, Pushpavnam and Nalluvedhapatti in Vedaranyam block. Out of the eight villages they have planned to initiate works in four villages based on their assessment of the need and background of the village and the people. The also felt that agriculture should be the focus of DHAN’s work in this block as it is occupation of a major portion of the population in this area. 2. Cuddalore District There are four coastal blocks in the district. They are Cuddalore, Karunjipadi, Parangipettai and Kumaratchi. Of those, except Kumaratchi, other three blocks are the affected most. The Cuddalore and Kurinjipadi blocks come under Cuddalore taluk and Parangipettai and Kumaratchi come under Chidambaram taluk. The teams visited intensively all the affected villages of the district. Our team is focusing on building rapport with the people in the affected area assessing the quantum of the losses in each village. Our team is visiting slightly affected villages also. The field team is concentrating on the restoration of livelihoods in the tsunami affected areas. Eleven villages from the above four blocks have been selected. The villages are selected based on the immediate relief needs of the community. The team is constantly trying to organize the village committee. Since there are many agencies working in distribution of relief materials, the villagers get very less time to get organized. The same situation might prevail till they receive relief materials. Right now our team engages volunteers from among the villagers in their activities. Today they have distributed groceries to the families and will distribute kerosene stoves, trunk boxes/ suitcases to the community in a day or two. Housing needs are taken care by other NGOs. People are recovering from the shock. Now they show great interest in getting the benefits announced by different agencies. As far as the compensation for those who have lost their lives, for those whose body is found in their own village, the family members have received the compensation properly. For those who are missing or whose body was found in nearby villages they didn’t receive any compensation. The team has already assessed the livelihood restoration needs especially fishing nets and boats which require an amount of Rs.4.5 lakhs. In the next phase the team is going to assess the damage of agriculture fields in the district. The team has established good rapport administration and have shared their interest to work in the affected areas on a long term basis. Press meet: The team organised for a press meet in which Stree Shakthi Chinnapillai participated and shared our plan of long term rehabilitation activities to the press. Then she visited the villagers and explained the need for togetherness in the times of disaster and gave them hope that Kalanjiam movement would help them to recover from the shock soon. Relief: the team provided the following relief material worth of Rs. 11.86 lakhs. The package consists of Groceries, trunk box or suitcase and a big plastic buckets with lid to keep the rice and groceries safely for 2000 families. Kerosene stoves for 620 families and school bag kits for850 children in ten villages - AkkaraiKori, Subauppalvadi, Sonankuppam, C.Pudupettai, Kannikovil, Mandavaipallam, Annankovil,Chinnoor north, Kodimarathu theru and Kumarapettai. Livelihood Needs: The team undertook a detailed assessment of the damage(fully damaged as well as partially damaged) to Kattumarams and Vallams in ten villages in three blocks of Cuddalore, Kurinjipadi and Parangipettai. 792 Kattumarams and 22 vallams have been fully damaged, 151 Kattumarams and 39 vallams have been partially damaged. The team has estimated that Rs. 4.4 crores would be required to restore these assets and support the people to get back to their livelihood activity of fishing. 3. Kancheepuram District Thirukalukundram Block Relief: Relief materials were distributed for 300 families in the eight affected villages. The relief package of materials consisted of groceries other than rice, utensils and clothes. Another 50 packages will be distributed in the next few days. Livelihood: a needs assessment of the affected villages in terms of fishing boats, nets etc has been completed with the involvement of the community. The team is exploring the possibility of setting up a boat repairing yard at Sadraskuppam and has identified the place where it can be set up. The team has initiated the work of finding suitable places where nets can be purchased. Housing: Alternate housing sites have been identified for all the eight villages and are awaiting the final clearance from the government to initiate work on the housing for the families. The people in one non fishing village near the seashore have requested for resettling them in nearby area as their fear of the sea is overwhelming.
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