Chennai: While NGOs and activists are gearing up to mourn the ninth anniversary of tsunami victims this Thursday, the state government will be winding up the operations of several units that took up tsunami relief operations.
For instance, the tsunami project implementation unit at Guindy attached to the rural development and panchayat raj department has shed its human resources by 90 per cent and by next month, the entire unit will be closed, official sources said, explaining that relief works related to the tsunami have been completed by about 99 per cent; only file and documentation works are now pending.
There were about 70 staff in the department. As relief projects were completed in almost all 13 coastal districts affected by the tsunami, the staff were reverted to their original departments and contracts of casual labourers were not renewed as the project is almost over, an official source said.
However, post tsunami rehabilitation units will continue operations for some more years and by next month, the prestigious Rs 1,481 crore coastal risk reduction project will gain momentum. The project, a brainchild of chief minister J. Jayalalithaa will take five years to complete and will cover 121 coastal areas that are prone to natural disasters. “After the relief and rehabilitation mode, we are now into a prevention mode and the project will be supported by the World Bank,” a senior revenue department official said.
“In our area, most fishermen were provided tsunami relief and the NGOs played a key role till 2006. Coastal hamlets in Mamallapuram are deprived of infrastructure and the coastal risk reduction project will be a boon for fisherfolk,” said Rajesh, a fisherman in Mamallapuram.
