Praveena Shivram meets some of the farmers from Akaraivattam, on the Karaikal coast of Pondicherry employed by the Oxfam’s cash-for-work programme where local men and women earn daily wages for debris removal from the village, leveling land and desilting irrigation canals, farm ponds and wells.
By Praveena Shivram
Village Akaraivattam, Karaikal, Pondicherry: The sea remains deceptively calm. Yet, the trauma, destruction and irrefutable fear of the sea remain vivid and inveterate for the people of the quaint little agricultural village of Akaraivattam, lining the coast of Karaikal in Pondicherry. The telltale signs of the tsunami now manifest themselves in the dry, salinated fields of the village and the palpable fear in the voices of the victims.
Aburvaswami Kozhande, 53, born and brought up in this village, was the first to see the waves rise up and shouted the initial warning. “I was right here, working on the fields, when I saw the waves rising,” he recalls. I let out a scream saying, “the water is coming” and that’s it, we left everything as it was and just ran towards higher ground.” His wife, Annamary, who was also on the fields with him that day, nods in agreement. “The wave was so high, as high as this lamppost!” she gestures to a 12 ft plus pole. All we had were the clothes we were wearing. When we got back, our houses were full of water and mud. The waters reached our knees.”
Ulaganathan Ramaiah, 33, walking despondently with the help of a stick, has seen enough tragedy to last him a lifetime. Ramaiah lost both his parents to the sea. “My parents were by the shore when the tsunami struck. Though we are farmers by profession, my father usually fishes along the coast during high tide. So he was fishing when my mother went to give him some food. That was the last I saw of them.” His voice is hardly audible.
On the far side of the village is a pool of water. “That pool of water you see over there is the water from the sea,” says the 35-year-old Divyanathan with a shudder. Just watching that pool of water everyday is enough to keep our memories alive!” he says. His wife, Damayanthi, says she can still relive the nightmare.
Disparate families, all having experienced the same disaster, have now come together to implement a cash-for-work programme rolled out by Oxfam GB and its local partner organization, VBEDS (Village Beneficiaries Education and Development Fund). Men and women earn daily wages for debris removal from the village, leveling land and desilting irrigation canals, farm ponds and wells.
Being farmers, the salt soaked fields have now left them bereft of work. Most of their families are safe and many still have standing houses. Yet, their future is bleak because they do not have any means of earning a living. The government has focused attention on the fishing community but not on the future of these farmers.
Farmers is the only profession we know,” says Aburvaswami. “But these once fertile fields are now just barren land. We cannot grow anything because of the salt in the soil. It will take three to four years for the soil to regain its fertility. Most of the adjoining fishing villages are getting precedence with the government distributing relief material but this particular village has been completely ignored. We haven”t got anything from the government yet. No money, no materials.”
For the last few days however, Aburvaswami and other farmers have seen a ray of hope. In fact, as one enters the coastal village of Akaraivattam, what strikes one first is the impeccability of its surroundings. This is thanks to the cash-for-work programme which has helped clean the village and the fields. “The cash-for-work programme is being implemented in four dalit villages in Karaikal, Pondicherry,” says Yudhvir, programme officer with Oxfam. “The villagers have themselves identified 230 needy families, prioritized on the basis of criteria such as women-headed households, those with disabled or elderly people or chronically ill people, etc. For cleaning the debris, each person is paid Rs 80 [less than one GBP] for eight hours of work a day. There is one paid holiday every week. Only one member can represent every family selected. And we are very strict about child labour. No one under 18 is allowed to work.”
The cash for work programme in the four villages of Karaikal is benefitting 750 men and women. A similar programme is also under way in five villages each in the adjoining areas of Nagapattinam and Cuddalore, the two worst affected districts in Tamil Nadu. Here the programme is helping about 365 and 370 men and women respectively.
With such a comprehensive program helping the villagers, it isn”t a surprise to actually detect a glimmer of hope in the eyes of the villagers. “Through this program we are able to earn something and keep ourselves busy. This organisation is the only one helping us
during this disaster”, says Aburvaswami. But the fear remains, when Damayanthi says, “We ask our little ones to watch the water and warn us if something unusual is seen. Only then, we have the strength the work. But even then, we get really scared when it becomes too windy and feel anxious as we expect another tsunami.”
