Kanniyakumari was among the districts badly affected by the tsunami. Sunil Paliwal IAS was transferred from Theni to the district as a collector with his task cut out for rebuilding infrastructure and nurturing hope in the local population. Now the chairperson of the Chennai and Kamarajar Ports, Paliwal tells C Shivakumar about those turbulent days. Excerpts:
What do you remember of that day?
I was in Theni when the disaster struck. I was transferred to Kanniyakumari two weeks after the tsunami. In Kanniyakumari, there were more than 800 deaths and 72 people were missing. Over 44,000 families were impacted and 6,600 houses were destroyed - 2,600 fully and 4,000 partially. Confidence among the people was low. I was asked to proceed to Kanniyakumari immediately and I took charge of the dining hall of the government guest house.
It is a tragedy of a nature and magnitude never seen before. Officials like you must have had to think on your feet. How did you manage?
The affected people were living in schools and community halls. In addition to government’s assistance, a lot of help was pouring in, especially from several non-governmental organisations. The first thing to be worked out was coordinating with the NGOs in channelling the aid and relief material, which were coming in huge volumes.
Secondly, schools being used as relief camps was impacting children’s education. The morale of the tsunami-hit was low as they had been living in these camps for weeks. The task was to provide temporary shelters before providing them with permanent homes. Within a week or 10 days, we were able to provide 4,000 temporary shelters (3,000 from government side and 1,000 with the help of NGOs). They were put up in the 33 habitations that were hit. These habitations were allotted among different NGOs, which would take care of requirements like erecting thatched roofs, toilets and supply of potable water apart from proper power supply.
Apart from that there were 700 people who had suffered serious injuries. Many were in private hospitals and worried about meeting the expenditure since they had lost all their belongings and savings. The district administration held talks with hospital managements to make the bills affordable. Moreover, `27 lakh was mobilised to help the people clear the bills. Around 16,000 fishermen lost their fishing gear and boats. We helped them get back to the sea and provided assistance for livelihood.
What impact did the event have on you personally and professionally?
Professionally, it was a good opportunity that gave satisfaction for being part of relief and rehabilitation of affected people. It was one of the most challenging experiences. I was happy to see that people’s lives had returned to normal when I visited the district around 10 years ago.
As a bureaucrat, how did the event shape your decision making, especially in terms of disaster management?
In India if government and non-government organisations come together, they can really make a difference in difficult situations like tsunami. For example, we had the challenge of providing permanent housing for the tsunami-hit. Land prices in Kanniyakumari are quite high. The government was willing to pay double the guideline value but even that was below the market price in many places. Many good souls came forward and contributed money. We constructed 2,600 houses. The government purchased the land and the NGOs built the houses. Apart from that, the people’s role was also important. In Kanniyakumari district, which is communally sensitive, people forgot their differences and came forward to help each other.