`We are now in the reconstruction phase'

Published : Jan 13, 2006 00:00 IST

Interview with R. Santhanam, State Relief Commissioner, Tamil Nadu.

An officer of the 1972 batch of the Indian Administrative Service, R. Santhanam is the Special Commissioner and Commissioner of Revenue Administration in the Tamil Nadu government. In that capacity he is also the State Relief Commissioner. He has supervised the relief and rehabilitation operations in the tsunami-affected areas. In this interview he gave V. Sridhar, he observes that while the rehabilitation phase is likely to end soon, restoration of livelihoods will take much longer. Excerpts:

Can you briefly describe the status of rehabilitation in relation to the magnitude of the destruction? What has been the experience gained?

The Joint Assessment Mission comprising the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the U.N. Organisations had assessed the damages and losses at $838.32 million. This included losses in fisheries, agriculture and livestock, micro-enterprises, housing, rural and municipal infrastructure and so on. From day one, the State government took speedy action to provide relief, which was completed by the end of January.

In the rehabilitation phase, which commenced soon after, the affected families were given a sustenance package consisting of cash and provisions to see them through the initial months. By May-June 2005, most of the fishermen had gone back to the sea. The government gave assistance for replacement and repair of boats and outboard motors and for the purchase of nets. Our Chief Minister took up the matter very strongly with the Government of India and got 100 per cent subsidy for catamarans, 50 per cent subsidy for FRP (fibre-reinforced plastic) boats and 35 per cent subsidy for mechanised boats. The NGOs (non-governmental organisations) also contributed substantially to the replacement of boats and other fishing implements.

Apart from fishermen, agriculturists, agricultural labourers, small businessmen, petty traders and several others having other occupations were affected. The government took note of the requirements of each of the sectors and provided different packages to suit their needs. Those owning small-scale industrial units also received assistance. Students who were affected received new textbooks, notebooks and uniforms. Their tuition fees, special fees and examination fees are to be borne by government until April 2006. To enable students to get over the trauma, their examinations were postponed by a month. They were given special coaching. In fact, students from the affected areas performed better than students in the other parts of the State in the standard X and XII examinations.

Assistance has also been given to agriculturalists to treat their lands that had become saline. Tsunami farmers' self-help groups (SHGs) have been formed and they are undertaking activities relating to reclamation of soil. Five hundred and sixty-one women who lost their husbands have all received the ex-gratia of Rs.1 lakh from the government and 250 of these women who were eligible for the destitute widow pension have been granted pension. Children, adolescent girls and unmarried girls above 18 years of age who have been become orphans, have been given a special package of assistance that is unique and can become a model for other States.

Meanwhile, NGOs were also helping the affected families, providing them boats, nets and other equipment. As a result of all this, within four months nearly all fishermen in the State went back to sea. People who were indirectly dependent on fishing for a livelihood - retailing fish, drying and packaging fish, and allied activities - also benefited from the relief package because they could get back to work fairly quickly.

Initially, there were complaints that certain categories of people such as Dalits were left out. There may have been omissions here and there, but whenever it came to our notice we ensured that they were corrected. More than 23,000 Dalit families got relief.

What has been the cost of the relief and rehabilitation package?

Till date the Tamil Nadu government has issued orders for expenditure on relief and rehabilitation amounting to nearly Rs.1,125.12 crores, of which Rs.811.52 crores has been released. Of this, the government has actually spent Rs.632 crores.

What are the lessons that have been learnt in the aftermath of the tsunami?

The first important lesson is that community-level preparedness is very important. During the past two years the State government had undertaken the Disaster Risk Management Programme, which is supported by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). The programme is being implemented in six districts (Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Kanyakumari and Nilgiris) and two cities (Chennai and Coimbatore). These areas were identified because they are multi-hazard-prone. After the tsunami the State government asked the Union government to extend the programme to other coastal districts. In the future a lot of emphasis will be given to community preparedness in both rural and urban areas. People need to be trained in giving first-aid, and alerting people and in managing shelters.

The second lesson is that there has to be a comprehensive plan to protect the coastal zone. We have to provide for shelter belts - mangroves, sea walls or groynes - depending on the specific situation. The third lesson is that the government and the community have to work together in disaster mitigation efforts.

In hindsight, which are the two areas relating to the relief and rehabilitation effort you would have handled differently if you were given another opportunity?

One failing relates to the manner in which we identified affected families immediately after the tsunami. Soon after the tsunami, every week there were more and more people clamouring for relief. Maybe if we had more personnel doing the enumeration exercise we could have identified sooner all the affected people. Some of the complaints - for instance, those relating to the exclusion of Dalits - could have been avoided if we had done the enumeration better and with the involvement of all categories of people. The second failing relates to the temporary shelters. We could have put up better structures for people with better planning. These shelters had to be constructed quickly since schools had to be reopened and Kalyana mandapams had to be vacated.

What are the salient features of the public-private partnership that has been adopted in the rehabilitation effort in the State?

From the first day the government has worked with NGOs. They have also been given space. Initially, there was some confusion because there was no proper coordination. NGOs came in very large numbers and handling so many of them was a new experience for us. But we quickly put in place an NGO coordination mechanism at the collectorates in the districts. Every day there were meetings where the district administration and NGOs chalked out the next day's work.

In the construction of temporary shelters also NGOs were given a free hand. With regard to permanent housing, the government was keen that some guidelines should be formulated so that the shortcomings that were noticed in Latur and Bhuj were not repeated. It was emphasised that the community should be consulted in the construction of permanent shelters. A number of designs developed by experts were sent and NGOs were given the freedom to choose any design in consultation with the community and also make changes, if necessary.

In Cuddalore district a significant number of new houses have been constructed for people not directly affected by the tsunami. How has this been funded?

In Cuddalore, the Irulas, who had very poor houses, asked the district administration for help. Some of the NGOs came forward to build these houses and we allowed it. But these additional houses are not being built under the World Bank-assisted programme. The terms of the programme prescribe that only those affected by the tsunami can be beneficiaries.

What are the norms for allotting land for housing?

For the special groups, we will examine each case on merit. For people affected by the tsunami, the government will arrange land for housing. People who are not affected by the tsunami will generally have to make their own arrangements. In such cases, some of the NGOs have come forward to purchase land for building houses for these people. That is not the norm.

At what point will you say that rehabilitation is complete?

The term rehabilitation has to be viewed in the context of the person or family affected. For a fisherman who had lost his livelihood because of the loss of boats or nets, rehabilitation becomes easier with the provision of boats, nets and other implements. For an adolescent girl or an unmarried girl who has become an orphan, rehabilitation will take much longer. This will include provision of psychosocial support, capacity-building and training in entrepreneurial skills. While rehabilitation is by and large complete, the restoration of livelihoods of affected families, especially those who may want to take up other occupations, will take much longer.

I would say that rehabilitation has been completed and that we are now in the reconstruction phase. But the restoration of livelihoods will take time. There are two programmes for the restoration of livelihoods. There is the Asian Development Bank programme, which provides $143 million for the restoration of livelihoods. This programme has just started and is being implemented by the Rural Development Department. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) also provides $15 million for livelihood restoration. Both are to be implemented through the self-help groups. Establishing livelihoods on a sustainable footing will take much longer. When the World Bank and ADB projects are completed, there will be a total transformation of the coastal areas.

Has Tamil Nadu moved towards a disaster management plan? Are the new houses that are being built cyclone resistant? Are there adequate cyclone shelters in vulnerable areas? Has the rehabilitation process moved towards minimising human and material losses if and when another disaster strikes?

All the districts in Tamil Nadu have a Disaster Management Plan, which is updated every year before the onset of the northeast monsoon. The plan was mostly confined to disasters such as droughts, floods and cyclones. Now, we have asked them to include disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis also and prepare the plan accordingly.

The houses being constructed are disaster-resistant. With the experience gained, I can say that we can minimise the human and material losses if another disaster strikes the State.

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