Tsunami one year after: A joint UN report - India

Source: United Nations Country Team in India
Date: 20 Dec 2005

INTRODUCTION

At 6:58 a.m. on December 26, 2004, a massive earthquake of magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale hit Indonesia off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra. At 9:51 a.m. (IST) the same day, another earthquake of magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale occurred 81km west of Pulo Kunji (Great Nicobar, India). The high intensity earthquakes set off giant tsunamis between 3 and 10 meters high, travelling 2,000km across the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and beyond.

In the Indian sub continent, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands were the first to be hit, causing extensive damage. The tsunami then spread along a narrow strip of land on India's east coast and Sri Lanka's low-lying portions and to a lesser degree India's west coast. Tidal waves hit the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry around 9:50 a.m. and penetrated up to 300 meters to 3km into the mainland, causing damage to lives and property. The tsunami affected a total of 2,260km of India's coastline besides the entire group of Nicobar Islands.

At Karaikal in Pondicherry and Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, the sea penetrated deep into the land affecting not only ports and fishing villages but also agricultural land. Besides the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the most critical impact was felt in a few coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala. On the west coast, Kerala was hit by a wave crest, travelling in a north-westerly direction as the tsunami diffracted off the southern tip of Sri Lanka and India.

The overall damage was estimated at approximately US$ 660 million and the losses were estimated to be approximately US$ 410 million(1).

In terms of mortality, taluks(2) in Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu were the hardest hit, followed by the Kanyakumari district. In Pondicherry, the Karaikal region had the highest toll as did the districts of Kollam and Alappuzha in Kerala.

According to the Government of India's Report to the Nation in June 2005, as many as 12,405 lives were lost: 8,009 in Tamil Nadu, 3,513 in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 599 in Pondicherry, 177 in Kerala and 107 in Andhra Pradesh. The toll included 14 Indians overseas, including 13 in Sri Lanka and one in the Maldives.

RESPONSE OF GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY

The Government of India as well as all the affected state governments and union territories were caught unawares but their response to the situation was quick.

Government of India

A number of steps were taken at the national level. The Ministry of Home Affairs was designated the nodal agency for coordinating relief in the affected areas and it formed a control room with a helpline for the public. In addition, a National Crisis Management Committee was established under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary. A National Crisis Management Group was formed under the chairmanship of the Secretary, Border Management and teams of representatives of various ministries led by a Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, visited the affected states. Individual ministries also undertook ministry-specific efforts.

Based on the impact assessment, the Government of India released Rs. 700 crore (USD 155.5 million) to the affected states and union territories for carrying out immediate relief and response. This included Rs 250 crore (USD 55.5 million) for Tamil Nadu, Rs.200 crore (USD 44.4 million) for Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Rs.100 crore (USD 22.2 million) each for Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and Rs.50 crore (USD 11.1 million) for Pondicherry.

After an assessment by central teams, a special package amounting to Rs. 3644.05 crore (USD 809.5 million) was approved under the Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Package for tsunami-affected areas. This covered assistance for immediate relief and response, revival of fishery and agriculture sectors, construction of temporary (intermediate) shelters and repair/restoration of infrastructure.

The Government of India set up a Core Group, in the Planning Commission, on Reconstruction, Management and Monitoring for tsunamiaffected areas to plan the reconstruction efforts. The Core Group prepared a comprehensive plan for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the tsunamiaffected states and union territories, with a financial outlay of Rs. 9,870.25 crore (USD 2,191.19 million). This plan is currently under revision and awaits approval of the Union Cabinet of Ministers.

Whereas no external assistance was required for immediate relief and response, Government approved external assistance from multi-lateral agencies like World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UN Agencies for long term rehabilitation/ reconstruction for tsunami-affected states/union territories. Bilateral assistance was also accepted if routed through the multi-lateral agencies. The external assistance mobilised from the World Bank is USD 528.5 million, USD 200 million from ADB, USD 34.4 million from the UN, USD 30 million from IFAD and USD 7.5 million from Japan Fund routed through World Bank and ADB. The support from World Bank is for rural water supply rehabilitation in Kerala, livelihood restoration in Andhra Pradesh, and housing and transport infrastructure restoration in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and support studies for longer-term coastal management. ADB is providing funds for rehabilitation of transportation infrastructure, village infrastructure and livelihood restoration in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The UN Recovery Framework focuses on rebuilding livelihoods, shelter-habitat development, social reintegration, social equity and anti-trafficking measures, education, health, psychosocial support, capacity building for disaster risk management, policy support and coordination by development of ICT tools and establishment of knowledge networks etc.

State and union territories

The Chief Ministers of the respective states directed the officials of the Revenue departments under the Relief Commissioner to co-ordinate search, rescue and relief efforts through the District Collectors with assistance from the police, fire and rescue services, medical/health services and other associated departments. State Relief Commissioners opened control rooms to disseminate information to the public and state government web sites relating to tsunami rescue and relief operations were developed. Supported by the army, navy, air force, coast guard and senior civil servants deputed to affected areas, each district administration identified and disposed off the dead, removed debris, rescued and moved people to safer locations, worked to prevent an outbreak of epidemics and restore basic services such as power and drinking water.

NGO/Civil society response

Community members, individuals and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) responded to the needs of the affected states and union territories. The work of the NGOs is being coordinated by Resource Centres established at the state level such as the Tamil Nadu Tsunami Resource Centre (TNTRC) in Chennai and at the district level such as the Nagapattinam Coordination and Resource Centre (NCRC). NGOs operating in the sectors of health, psychosocial counselling, shelter, sanitation, water, education, livelihood and environment came to the fore. They included agencies such as World Vision (India), CARE (India), Catholic Relief Services (India), Project Concern International, ECHO, Oxfam, Dhan Foundation, League for Education and Development, Tamil Nadu Voluntary Health Association and Jesuits in Social Action.

Private sector response

The affected areas received corporate donations and relief material on an unprecedented scale. It is estimated that the corporate sector in India contributed more than USD 8 million in cash, food and medicine, emergency relief supplies and other humanitarian services. In addition, Indian companies, including established business houses, banks, insurance, medical and IT companies and public sector entities, contributed over Rs. 400 million (USD 9.2 million) to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund and made donations to established NGOs like Oxfam, CARE and Dhan Foundation.

Notes:

(1) Assessment figures taken from Joint Assessment Mission Report prepared by WB, ADB and UNCT, 2005.

(2) A taluk is an administrative division of the Indian state that falls under a district.