Sunday, January 09, 2005
More from Mikhail Rebrov's 'Save our Earth'
More from Mikhail Rebrov's 'Save our Earth':'"Twenty thousand years ago ,in the Ice Age , a glacier blocked the river flowing across the present state of Washington,to form a glacial lake behind this natural dam.With an area of eight thousand square kilometers,it had half the water mass of Lake Michigan today.Little by little,water undercut the glacier making it unsteady and eventually the day came when the ice dam collapsed,abruptly and all at once,the lake spured through the breach hurtling down nearly 400 thousand cubic meters per hour.In less than an week the lake emptied in fierce torrents of waves leaving behind 180 square kilometers of disfigured stony deserts."
Krakatoa tsunami:1883
Here are the words of Mikhail Rebrov from his book 'Save Our Earth': "....some volcanoes wake up all too abruptly, as did the now famous Krakatoa in the familiar and well-documented eruption late in past century. As with the saint Helens event in which magma poured out twenty times,this volcano at Krakatoa Island (Indonesia) continued to erupt through 26 and 27 August 1883. It set off a huge tsunami wave about 33 meters high. At the bullet-train speed of about 500 kilometers per hour it charged over the ocean to overwhelm the nearby islands, leaving almost 50 thousand dead.
...A small islet called Thera slightly northward of it is established beyond doubt to have suffered a major calamity roughly between 1700 and 1450 BC. It left in the sea a tiny crescent-shaped islet, formerly the eastern portion of the volcano which Thera properly had been. That period saw the beginning to of decay of the Minoan state. Ols sources relate that the chain of earthquakes in the aftermath of the eruption demolished all buildings in the interiors of the neighboring islands and tsunamis washed off the coastal towns.Enormous waves and floods hit away at spacious territories."
I read this book three 3 years ago. By then I could visualize things as easily as I do today. I first came to know about tsunami waves some 7 years back, but I never imagined that it would hit my home town.
...A small islet called Thera slightly northward of it is established beyond doubt to have suffered a major calamity roughly between 1700 and 1450 BC. It left in the sea a tiny crescent-shaped islet, formerly the eastern portion of the volcano which Thera properly had been. That period saw the beginning to of decay of the Minoan state. Ols sources relate that the chain of earthquakes in the aftermath of the eruption demolished all buildings in the interiors of the neighboring islands and tsunamis washed off the coastal towns.Enormous waves and floods hit away at spacious territories."
I read this book three 3 years ago. By then I could visualize things as easily as I do today. I first came to know about tsunami waves some 7 years back, but I never imagined that it would hit my home town.
Lawrence Road shrunk to 3 feet
yeah Lawrence Road shrunk to 3 feet outside the Railway Cycle stand because of the stones and sand dumped there for laying road.It remains there for more than a week.Neither the road is laid nor the those materials are removed.
Park turned gambling arena
The roadside park setup at the entrance of the Government Headquarters Hospital in Cuddalore turned gambling arena for the auto rickshaw drivers of the neighbouring stand.Nowadays the park is not maintained properly and plants are drying out without water.
Nagapattinam hepline
It seems police Department has craeted a new website http://tsunami.nagapattinampolice.info
Really good effort.But more atention need to be taken while designing sites from public.The flash animation displaying 'tsunami.nagapattinampolice.info' is irritating.I wonder why they should add such an animation to a site which is decated to the victims of a natural calamity.
Also most the links are broken in the Unidentified Bodies section.
Really good effort.But more atention need to be taken while designing sites from public.The flash animation displaying 'tsunami.nagapattinampolice.info' is irritating.I wonder why they should add such an animation to a site which is decated to the victims of a natural calamity.
Also most the links are broken in the Unidentified Bodies section.
Here is a collection of some of the news item I gathered on Saturday evening
Sri Lankan Radio reported that LTTE head Mr.Prabakaran was washed away by tsunami and some 5000 thousand trops are washed away.But LTTE denied this and added that only 5 of its army members were dead.A BBC correspondent reproted that Regiment 23 in Mattakallapu area was completely washed away and the arms thrown out along with debris of the destructed houses and so it seems LTTE has advised people to not to go to their villages until the scatered arms are compltely removed.To listen to the Tamil News from BBC follow the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/tamil/
Here are some of the notable pionts from a debate on NDTV:
Mr.Kapil Sipal (Minister of Sci&Tech)He said (1)Decated frequency to serve people during natural disaster (2)civic society must not compromise their own saftey while building/buying houses.
Mihir Bhatt(Disaster Mitigation Institute) He said that in times of disaster among the different level of communications, the conveying of info. between the District Collector and the public takes more time because of the poor alarming system.
Dr.R.K.Pachauri(TERI & Energy specialist) He begun to say something about the mangrove forests but this topic was completely lost on the debate.
Fr.Thomas Kocherry(World Forum of Fisheries People) He said that the disaster in such a massive scale could have been avoided if the Supreme court recommendations have been followed.
More importantly Kapil Sibal while answering a question by saying that the warning on Thursday following tsunami on Sunday was as a give on seeing a TV Flash News.....lol.....
Here are some of the notable pionts from a debate on NDTV:
Mr.Kapil Sipal (Minister of Sci&Tech)He said (1)Decated frequency to serve people during natural disaster (2)civic society must not compromise their own saftey while building/buying houses.
Mihir Bhatt(Disaster Mitigation Institute) He said that in times of disaster among the different level of communications, the conveying of info. between the District Collector and the public takes more time because of the poor alarming system.
Dr.R.K.Pachauri(TERI & Energy specialist) He begun to say something about the mangrove forests but this topic was completely lost on the debate.
Fr.Thomas Kocherry(World Forum of Fisheries People) He said that the disaster in such a massive scale could have been avoided if the Supreme court recommendations have been followed.
More importantly Kapil Sibal while answering a question by saying that the warning on Thursday following tsunami on Sunday was as a give on seeing a TV Flash News.....lol.....
Saturday, January 08, 2005
The Father of Modern Cuddalore
Days of last day were the sadest days in the town's history.I thought all other developement works will come to a stand still.Thanks to District Administrator Mr.Gagandeep Singh Bedi 'The Father of Modern Cuddalore'.The beautification process and the other development projects has begun in full swing.
Post tsunami scenerio:Orphans
Tsunami left many children orphan.Cuddalore District Collector Er.Gagan Deep Singh Bedi in an interveiw in NDTV said there about 25 children left without parents and added that he will help people those who are willing to adopt those children by refering them to Social Welfare Department.I presently dont have the excate postal address Camp Office.I will get you all soon.Please help the Administration by spreading the word.I have decided to make use of the Groups and Chat rooms.Yeah... at this point everyone has to carefull about the child trafficers.
Help line to find missing people
Hi make use of All India Radio's Helpline service to find the missing people after tsunami.Here is their email address: helpline@air.org.in
Friday, January 07, 2005
Here is an intresting story....
Read this article from 'The Hindu'-"Two months before the tsunami struck, an unusual movement of "red bait" fish (dipterygonatus leucogrammicus), locally known as "aranaival" was noticed on the east coast. Previous studies have established that whenever this species is found in abundance, a natural calamity is sure to follow, according to......"
Wanna read the full story ? follow this link : http://www.hindu.com/2005/01/07/stories/2005010706870300.htm
Wanna read the full story ? follow this link : http://www.hindu.com/2005/01/07/stories/2005010706870300.htm
Roads........
After a long wait thar road was laid out in the link connecting busstand and Imperial road.Thanks for everyone behind the road.It rare to see roads of such good quality.For instance the patch of cement road thats being laid for parking vehicles adjoining the footpath in Lawrence road is of such a quality that you see all the stones used simply seperately.I wonder what would happen after a rain.
Pedestrian pathway
Soo wide.. sooo beautiful..:pedestrian foot paths were built.I wonder why people still make use of road to walk through the Lawrence road.Police personnel can be made use to direct the people to make use of the foot path atleast for few months if not the sole purpose of the such a costly project will become useless.
Mangrove forests
yeah...finally it seems TN gov. has allocated hundreds of crores for developing Mangrove forests along the coastlines.We have already started this process some seven years back.But only a small section of trees planted then grown up/survives now.This had captured the attention of the authorities at times in the past and efforts were made to replace the dried out and but the goal is not yet achieved.
But then too the focus was to develope the Mangrove forest over a relatively smaller area on the banks of Uppanar back water.It can be extended to both east and west banks of the Uppanar towards north from the bridge and also on the vast area on the west bank of the back water towards the south of the bridge.If firm steps are taken atleast from now I am sure that it will attract a variety of birds apart from being a natural barrier protecting us from calamities.
But then too the focus was to develope the Mangrove forest over a relatively smaller area on the banks of Uppanar back water.It can be extended to both east and west banks of the Uppanar towards north from the bridge and also on the vast area on the west bank of the back water towards the south of the bridge.If firm steps are taken atleast from now I am sure that it will attract a variety of birds apart from being a natural barrier protecting us from calamities.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Vivek Operai @ work
In an interview with NDTV Vivek Operai said that within 24 hours 200 houses were built and 3 community kitchens were setup.Sorry for my late reporting he said this actually on Sunday(02/01/2005).
Pits in downtown Cuddalore
Two large pits in the Imperial Road poses threat to the passer by.One is at the lane opposite to the Ballaji theatre.The others is at the entrance of Seemati silks,it actually seems to be like a ditch but dumped with garbages.Since this is in one the busiest are of the town it poses real threat.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Child care unit centre setup
New child care unit was set up by District authorities here to care of chidrens who lost theirs parent in tsunami.
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Vivek Operai in Cuddalore
Hindi film star Vivek Operai visited the tsunami hit parts of Cuddalore.He visited Devanampattinam and promised to donate fishing nets,boats etc.,for the fishing community there.He also promised to build them new houses.He added that he was waiting for the permision of State Government to do all these things.
Was it a human failure?
ON THE fateful morning of Sunday, December 26, one was still sleeping when the mild tremors shook Chennai. Within 15 minutes the telephone was ringing and relatives and friends wanted to know if we too had felt the tremors. With the havoc caused by the earthquake in Kutch in 2001 still fresh in their memory, some of them — including the neighbours — had come out of their homes and on to the road.
Within an hour, many TV channels had the news that the epicentre of the quake, measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, lay in the ocean. Immediately, my husband, an instruments engineer who keenly follows all things meteorological, and my 15-year-old son started discussing the possibility of tsunami waves developing. The latter was excitedly telling us how a fellow student in his school had just a few days earlier made a presentation on tsunamis and the devastation they can cause. He said she had added that her biggest fear was that, God forbid, tsunami waves might attack India.
Ominous words, those. But this column is not about that. It is about how ordinary citizens were talking about the possibility of tsunami waves striking, not our own coast but the coast near Indonesia, because at that point and with our limited knowledge the threat seemed rather far away. However, India's scientific community, perceived to be among the very best in the world, and particularly scientists trained to forecast weather and natural disasters, seem to have let the nation down.
Over the last two days, we have been told about how because tsunami waves are prone to hit the Pacific more than the Indian Ocean, and because the warning systems cost a lot of money, we do not have a warning system in place.
While it has now been decided, and rightly, to install sea floor pressure recording systems in the Indian Ocean to give us some advance warning of such a disaster, have we become so dependent on technology and gadgetry that the human brain has taken second place in our scheme of things?
We might not have had the warning systems in place, but what about the colossal knowledge base that we as a country possess? And, surely, at least a tiny bit of our knowledge capital was watching television channels that morning or was itself present in the regions that felt the tremors. And this ought to have been incentive enough for anybody to switch on the television or call friends or relatives to find out what's happening.
Even if the antenna of one alert person in a responsible position at a scientific facility in India had gone up, after finding that an earthquake — or, rather, sea quake — of that intensity had its epicentre in the waters of the sea so many precious lives could have been saved. He/she could have discussed such a threat with a colleague and alerted the governments or their own colleagues in the coastal cities of Chennai or Pondicherry, and, most of all, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, much closer to the epicentre and, owing to their geographic position, more vulnerable. After all, ordinary citizens in Chennai, even the kids playing cricket on the beach, noticed how much the sea had receded that fateful Sunday morning.
As a scientist interviewed by BBC kept pointing out, before a tsunami wave strikes, typically, the sea pulls back, leaving dead fish on the shores. This is an awesome sight that triggers people's curiosity and they invariably move closer to the shore, trying to investigate what is happening. And then, before they know what hits them, tsunami waves measuring few metres high leap out of the sea and wash them away.
What a pity that while my friend's son, who lives near the coast in Chennai, noticed that morning from his terrace how the sea had receded, nobody who had the vital knowledge to connect this observation with the danger that awaited the coastal region, noticed this at any point along the entire south-eastern coast that was eventually devastated by tsunami waves measuring up to 10 metres. These thoughts are not being voiced to blame anybody. And, yes, all this is wisdom after the event. But just imagine, in a State like Tamil Nadu; in a Chennai or Nagapattinam or Cuddalore, what a life-and-death difference could have been made by public warning systems asking people to get away from the coast.
At Chennai's Marina beach, just three patrol jeeps asking people to vacate the beach, administration officials quickly barricading the area from human presence, and loudspeakers warning people of the potential danger — such simple precautions would have saved the lives of children playing cricket on the beach, the morning walkers, the mother and her little daughter who were in Chennai on a vacation and had gone to the beach to play in the sea waters.
The nation might not have woken up on Tuesday morning to see newspaper pictures of little children lying in oversized graves in Nagapattinam and, worse still, a mass grave of tiny bodies. Even though the tragedy could not have been averted altogether, thousands of precious lives could have been saved, and we would not have felt such a sense of shame over the collective failure of the tremendous knowledge base in this country.
Whether it is natural disasters or medical emergencies, it is precious minutes that count and make the difference between life and death. Those precious minutes were squandered away by ignorant bliss.
The unfortunate fact is that even with routine things such as flood warning systems in place, precious lives continue to be lost in this country during disasters such as cyclones and floods.
During rare stock-taking exercises like these, we have to admit that somewhere there is both carelessness and callousness in our administrative mechanisms, which fail to act quickly and efficiently when it comes to preventive action to minimise loss of lives.
We may boast of many things — our strong democracy that has survived the most despotic politicians, a vibrant economy, an IT industry that is the envy of the world, or a knowledge base that is formidable.
But one awaits the day when we will boast of a collective sensitivity that considers our one billion plus population, including the poor and the unprivileged, not a liability but an asset — human capital of the extraordinary variety that deserves to be nurtured and as zealously guarded as Corporate India's bottomline.
The clock cannot be turned back but one hopes history will hold vital lessons for the future.
(Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in)
© Copyright 2000 - 2005 The Hindu Business Line
Source:The Hindu
Within an hour, many TV channels had the news that the epicentre of the quake, measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, lay in the ocean. Immediately, my husband, an instruments engineer who keenly follows all things meteorological, and my 15-year-old son started discussing the possibility of tsunami waves developing. The latter was excitedly telling us how a fellow student in his school had just a few days earlier made a presentation on tsunamis and the devastation they can cause. He said she had added that her biggest fear was that, God forbid, tsunami waves might attack India.
Ominous words, those. But this column is not about that. It is about how ordinary citizens were talking about the possibility of tsunami waves striking, not our own coast but the coast near Indonesia, because at that point and with our limited knowledge the threat seemed rather far away. However, India's scientific community, perceived to be among the very best in the world, and particularly scientists trained to forecast weather and natural disasters, seem to have let the nation down.
Over the last two days, we have been told about how because tsunami waves are prone to hit the Pacific more than the Indian Ocean, and because the warning systems cost a lot of money, we do not have a warning system in place.
While it has now been decided, and rightly, to install sea floor pressure recording systems in the Indian Ocean to give us some advance warning of such a disaster, have we become so dependent on technology and gadgetry that the human brain has taken second place in our scheme of things?
We might not have had the warning systems in place, but what about the colossal knowledge base that we as a country possess? And, surely, at least a tiny bit of our knowledge capital was watching television channels that morning or was itself present in the regions that felt the tremors. And this ought to have been incentive enough for anybody to switch on the television or call friends or relatives to find out what's happening.
Even if the antenna of one alert person in a responsible position at a scientific facility in India had gone up, after finding that an earthquake — or, rather, sea quake — of that intensity had its epicentre in the waters of the sea so many precious lives could have been saved. He/she could have discussed such a threat with a colleague and alerted the governments or their own colleagues in the coastal cities of Chennai or Pondicherry, and, most of all, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, much closer to the epicentre and, owing to their geographic position, more vulnerable. After all, ordinary citizens in Chennai, even the kids playing cricket on the beach, noticed how much the sea had receded that fateful Sunday morning.
As a scientist interviewed by BBC kept pointing out, before a tsunami wave strikes, typically, the sea pulls back, leaving dead fish on the shores. This is an awesome sight that triggers people's curiosity and they invariably move closer to the shore, trying to investigate what is happening. And then, before they know what hits them, tsunami waves measuring few metres high leap out of the sea and wash them away.
What a pity that while my friend's son, who lives near the coast in Chennai, noticed that morning from his terrace how the sea had receded, nobody who had the vital knowledge to connect this observation with the danger that awaited the coastal region, noticed this at any point along the entire south-eastern coast that was eventually devastated by tsunami waves measuring up to 10 metres. These thoughts are not being voiced to blame anybody. And, yes, all this is wisdom after the event. But just imagine, in a State like Tamil Nadu; in a Chennai or Nagapattinam or Cuddalore, what a life-and-death difference could have been made by public warning systems asking people to get away from the coast.
At Chennai's Marina beach, just three patrol jeeps asking people to vacate the beach, administration officials quickly barricading the area from human presence, and loudspeakers warning people of the potential danger — such simple precautions would have saved the lives of children playing cricket on the beach, the morning walkers, the mother and her little daughter who were in Chennai on a vacation and had gone to the beach to play in the sea waters.
The nation might not have woken up on Tuesday morning to see newspaper pictures of little children lying in oversized graves in Nagapattinam and, worse still, a mass grave of tiny bodies. Even though the tragedy could not have been averted altogether, thousands of precious lives could have been saved, and we would not have felt such a sense of shame over the collective failure of the tremendous knowledge base in this country.
Whether it is natural disasters or medical emergencies, it is precious minutes that count and make the difference between life and death. Those precious minutes were squandered away by ignorant bliss.
The unfortunate fact is that even with routine things such as flood warning systems in place, precious lives continue to be lost in this country during disasters such as cyclones and floods.
During rare stock-taking exercises like these, we have to admit that somewhere there is both carelessness and callousness in our administrative mechanisms, which fail to act quickly and efficiently when it comes to preventive action to minimise loss of lives.
We may boast of many things — our strong democracy that has survived the most despotic politicians, a vibrant economy, an IT industry that is the envy of the world, or a knowledge base that is formidable.
But one awaits the day when we will boast of a collective sensitivity that considers our one billion plus population, including the poor and the unprivileged, not a liability but an asset — human capital of the extraordinary variety that deserves to be nurtured and as zealously guarded as Corporate India's bottomline.
The clock cannot be turned back but one hopes history will hold vital lessons for the future.
(Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in)
© Copyright 2000 - 2005 The Hindu Business Line
Source:The Hindu
Ministers visiting tsunami hits areas
The Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran, has said the Tsunami has left a trail of devastation in Tamil Nadu, and the magnitude should be let known to the rest of the country.
Mr. Maran along with the Petroleum Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyer, visited the affected areas and relief camps in Cuddalore today. After inspecting the damage caused by the waves to Thevanampattinam, a fishing village, on the Silver Beach here, Mr. Maran told presspersons that the Tsunami had wrought havoc in the State.
Several coastal hamlets were wiped out, with tenements razed to the ground. Thousands were rendered homeless. Tsunami was unheard of in Tamil Nadu, and yet it struck on a sunny day, killing children, tourists and morning walkers.
Mr. Maran said the "Centre would have no hesitations in helping Tamil Nadu in relief works." It had already lent two helicopters for being used in search for the missing fishermen and taking aid to the marooned villages. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, was in touch with the State Government to extend all possible help.
He said the State Government was not able to handle the situation. It should not be content with extending monetary relief to the victims, but should work out a rehabilitation programme. It should pay attention to preventive measures.
Asked whether a natural calamity like an earthquake could be predicted, Mr Maran replied in the negative. However, in the case of Tsunami, precautionary measures could be taken, because when it struck at a far-off place the uprising of sea could be gauged to a certain extent and relief measures organised to minimise the damage.
Central aid
Mr. Aiyer said that based on the assessment of damage by the State Government, the Centre would decide whether to relax the norms for drawing from the Central Calamity Contingency Fund.
Asked whether the Centre should stick to formalities when a grave crisis occurred, Mr. Aiyer said the extent of damage ought to be assessed before arriving at the size of relief.
He lauded the Cuddalore Collector, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, for having organised the relief works well. However, Mr. Aiyer expressed his displeasure over the preparedness of the Chennai Corporation.
The Ministers asked the villagers to prepare a list of those reported missing and hand it over to the district administration.
© Copyright 2000 - 2005 The Hindu
Courtesy:The Hindu
Mr. Maran along with the Petroleum Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyer, visited the affected areas and relief camps in Cuddalore today. After inspecting the damage caused by the waves to Thevanampattinam, a fishing village, on the Silver Beach here, Mr. Maran told presspersons that the Tsunami had wrought havoc in the State.
Several coastal hamlets were wiped out, with tenements razed to the ground. Thousands were rendered homeless. Tsunami was unheard of in Tamil Nadu, and yet it struck on a sunny day, killing children, tourists and morning walkers.
Mr. Maran said the "Centre would have no hesitations in helping Tamil Nadu in relief works." It had already lent two helicopters for being used in search for the missing fishermen and taking aid to the marooned villages. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, was in touch with the State Government to extend all possible help.
He said the State Government was not able to handle the situation. It should not be content with extending monetary relief to the victims, but should work out a rehabilitation programme. It should pay attention to preventive measures.
Asked whether a natural calamity like an earthquake could be predicted, Mr Maran replied in the negative. However, in the case of Tsunami, precautionary measures could be taken, because when it struck at a far-off place the uprising of sea could be gauged to a certain extent and relief measures organised to minimise the damage.
Central aid
Mr. Aiyer said that based on the assessment of damage by the State Government, the Centre would decide whether to relax the norms for drawing from the Central Calamity Contingency Fund.
Asked whether the Centre should stick to formalities when a grave crisis occurred, Mr. Aiyer said the extent of damage ought to be assessed before arriving at the size of relief.
He lauded the Cuddalore Collector, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, for having organised the relief works well. However, Mr. Aiyer expressed his displeasure over the preparedness of the Chennai Corporation.
The Ministers asked the villagers to prepare a list of those reported missing and hand it over to the district administration.
© Copyright 2000 - 2005 The Hindu
Courtesy:The Hindu
Wikipedia updation
Hi I have just now upated the Wikipedia content on Cuddalore.Here is the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuddalore
Cuddalore hit by Tsunami:Killer wave
Tsunami waves that followed the earthquake in Indonesia hit the eastern coast of India on December 26 2004 by 08:32 in the morning.Cuddalore is worst affected by these killer waves.Until now 572 bodies have been recovered and many still missing.Several fishing hamlets simply disappeared.Relief operations are in progress.Silver beach-The most beautiful beach of India and Cuddalore port whish is port of historical importance was completely devestated.But fortunately Fort St.David managed to survive without any serious damage.
Welcome
Hi! here is a blog on Cuddalore. Though this blog is concerned mainly with Cuddalore town I will post other articles of general interest (particularly news items, debates,etc.,) thats worth posting here. Please add comments to the every post you read. I love to see that.You can contact me anytime. My email address is : cuddaloreonline (at) gmail.com
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