Even after 20 years, tsunami still haunts people of Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Port Blair: Even after 20 years of the deadly tsunami of December 26, 2004, the devastation which killed more than 400 people and left nearly 3,000 missing, still haunts the residents of Campbell Bay and Car Nicobar in Nicobar district of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Located nearly 535 km away from Port Blair, Nicobar district suffered the maximum damage during the 2004 tsunami. Till today debris of damaged houses, defence quarters, schools, church and government establishments can send shivers down the spine of people.

At Tamaloo village at Car Nicobar, signs of the large-scale devastation is still visible and every year Nicobarese tribes gather at 'Death House' - a separate community house where Nicobari tribes as a part of their ritual remember their friend, family and relatives who passed away.

Tamaloo village headman, Paul Benjamin, recalled, "Post Christmas celebration, we were getting ready for prayers at the local church. It was a festive mood. Around 6 am, on December 26, 2004, we noticed the sea started receding nearly 3 km followed by high-impact tremors. The entire Island was shaking. We have never seen such nature's fury before. There was no warning system and minutes later I saw a monstrous wall of sea waves rushing towards us. We started running towards hilly areas to save our lives."

He further said, "There was complete chaos. People were running for safety, buildings collapsed like packs of cards. Some people fainted due to high-density tremors. I rescued my wife who was trapped in the kitchen and all of us took shelter in a jungle in a hilly area. People were begging for rations to feed their children. We didn't have anything to eat. Whatever ration we had, we kept in for children and patients. Rest survived on coconut water for five-six days."

As per government statistics, 269 people died while 583 went missing at Car Nicobar (nearly 274 km away from Port Blair), at Teressa Island, 54 died and six missing, at Chowra, 41 died and 17 missing, at Campbell Bay, 20 died and 520 went missing.

At Katchal Island (in Nicobar district), the maximum number of persons went missing and the figure stands at 1,635. Only one person died in Katchal in the tsunami.

At Kamorta and Trinket Islands (both in Nicobar district), 295 and 75 people are still missing. One each died from these two islands.

In Nicobar district alone, nearly 387 people died and 3,131 went missing (presumed dead) in 2004.

Speaking to PTI, Prahlad Singh, Gram panchayat Pradhan of Laxmi Nagar, Campbell Bay, said, "I lost some of my close friends in the tsunami. I was standing outside my house when I felt strong tremors. There was a jungle in front of our house and we could not see the sea. Then, I climbed up on a coconut tree and saw huge waves with ferocity gushing towards our island."

A similar impact was also felt in South Andaman and Little Andaman which reported seven and 34 deaths respectively. No one went missing from South Andaman but 13 people went missing (presumed dead) from Little Andaman.

"The most horrifying moment was when bodies started surfacing on the sea, they were decomposing fast and we were helpless. Some clung to a tree for hours and were later rescued. Somehow we managed to save our lives but till today tsunami continues to haunt us," Prahlad Singh said.

That ill-fated day also abruptly ended Meghana Rajshekhar's playful world. She was the daughter of an IAF officer posted at Car Nicobar when the Tsunami took her parents and little brother away.

Then, she was 12 years old and her father was a meteorologist with the Indian Air Force. She drifted in the sea on a wooden plank before she was rescued after two days.

Speaking to PTI, Deputy Commissioner, South Andaman district, Arjun Sharma said, "The scale of relief operations is particularly noteworthy, as evidenced by the total number of cases processed and the substantial amounts sanctioned and disbursed. The administration's systematic approach to categorizing and processing claims demonstrates a well-structured relief mechanism, despite facing various implementation challenges. Taking a lesson from the tsunami, now the administration here is fully prepared to handle such natural disasters in future with advanced technology."

"We provided shelter to 823 affected families in South Andaman and 1,973 affected families in Little Andaman. We have also provided compensation to nearly 1,203 affected people who lost their land in South Andaman," he said.