Question

Project report on Bhuj tsunami in 2004

Answer 1

Response and Recovery in India after the
December 2004 Great Sumatra
Earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami
C. V. R. Murty,a…
M.EERI, Sudhir K. Jain,a…
M.EERI, Alpa R. Sheth,b…
Arvind Jaiswal,c… and Suresh R. Dasha…
The rescue and relief work undertaken in the Andaman and Nicobar islands
and in mainland India after the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was
massive. A number of new initiatives undertaken by the government and
nongovernmental agencies were innovative and successful. Also, since the
tsunami was not a typical disaster for India, it raised a number of new concerns
related to reconstruction along the coast. DOI: 10.1193/1.2206137-

INTRODUCTION
India is divided into states and union territories UTs—the states have their own
elected local governments, while the UTs are directly governed by the union government
at New Delhi. In India, the 2004 Great Sumatra earthquake and Indian Ocean tsunami
caused extensive damage in the UT of the Andaman and Nicobar A&N islands situated
in the Bay of Bengal, along the mainland coast in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala,
and in the UT of Pondicherry. Damage was also sustained in the state of Andhra Pradesh
along the eastern mainland coast, but it was moderate. The death toll in India was
10,273, and the number of missing persons was 5,832 MHA 2005. Also, over 501 chil-
dren became orphans, and about 10,260 livestock were lost. Of the total missing, 5,554
were from the A&N islands and were feared to be dead. The tsunami affected 2,260 km
of the coastline along mainland India, besides all the Nicobar Islands and some of the
Andaman Islands. However, as a percentage of the total population, the statistics from
the Nicobar Islands indicate severe losses; as of 1 February 2005, of the total population
of 42,068 on the Nicobar Islands, about 1,879 were dead, 5,640 were missing, and
26,616 were in relief camps. In India, about 2,750,000 people living in 1,089 villages
were affected. About 172,000 dwelling units were destroyed, and about 63,000 boats
were damaged. Of the six aboriginal tribes in the A&N islands—namely, the Anda-
manese, Onges, Jarawas, Sentinelese, Shompens, and Nicobaris—the Nicobaris suffered
major losses, while the other five tribes were reported to be safe; 1,151 Nicobaris died,
and another 5,580 were reported missing. The saline water ingress into agricultural land
affected crops spread over about 200 km2 of land area. The net economic setback in In-
dia is estimated at about Rs. 10,000 crores US $2.2 billion.
The most fatalities were in Tamil Nadu. The damage along the mainland coast was