Tsunami Rehab Information Network (TRINET) Weekly News March 3, 2008

This week's news round up is organized under various headings as follows.



TRINet's March 2008 Newsletter gives an idea of the role of sediment
analysis in early warning systems and can be accessed at
http://www.trinet.in/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?cid=35&lid=450



TN government has updated information on their tsunami website
www.tn.gov.in/tsunami The updates include Prime Minister's National
Relief Fund Schemes as on 31-01-2008; Govt Orders on tsunami relief as
on 31.12.2007; Construction of houses Phase-I as on 31-01-2008;
Construction of Additional houses - Phase-I

as on 31-01-2008. The Government of Tamil Nadu has so far sanctioned
funds to the tune of Rs.2383.72 crore upto 31.12.2007 for relief and
rehabilitation activities in the areas affected by tsunami with the
assistance of Government of India.



GENERAL

Sumatra Is Rocked by Earthquake, Indonesia's 12th in Four Days: Feb. 27
-- Indonesia was rocked again by an earthquake today, its 12th in the
past four days, when a 5.8- magnitude temblor struck southwest Sumatra,
the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site. The earthquake began at
1:18 a.m., 176 kilometers (109 miles) west from Bengkulu, Sumatra, and
was 3 kilometers deep, the USGS said. No damages or injuries were
immediately reported. Dozens of homes were damaged and a health clinic
was leveled yesterday in the wake of a 6.6 magnitude quake that prompted
the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and the Japan Meteorological
Agency to warn about a ``very small possibility'' of a ``destructive
local tsunami'' in the Indian Ocean. That earthquake was preceded by a
temblor measuring 7.0 on Feb. 25, the USGS said. Twelve quakes with a
magnitude of 5.0 or more have been recorded since Feb. 23, according to
the USGS. Quakes measuring 5.0 or more can cause considerable damage.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a2wGEvK1EeO0&refer=asia

India, S. Africa most prone to Tsunami after-effects: Edinburgh, Feb.
27: India and South Africa are likely to experience the worst damage or
devastation if another Tsunami takes place in the near future,
scientists have claimed. According to them, these two countries have
very poor infrastructure and planning to deal with such a calamity even
now. David Ovadia, the head of international business development at the
British Geological Survey, was quoted by the Scotsman as saying: "There
will be another tsunami, we just don't know when. It could be tomorrow
or in 100 years. Vast numbers of people still are not protected because
of a lack of a proper alarm system. The technology may be
state-of-the-art, but it can only do so much if there are no sirens on
the beaches or evacuation drills." Scientists have revealed that the
fault line, which spawned the December 26, 2004 Tsunami has ruptured
nearly 20 times this month, with three strong quakes in the past 24
hours alone. The activity shows the stress the seam is under and could
be a harbinger of worse to come, the Scotsman quoted Kerry Sieh, an
American professor as saying.

http://www.topnews.in/india-s-africa-most-prone-tsunami-after-effects-222699

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DISASTER MANAGEMENT

UGC asks universities to launch course on disaster management: New
Delhi: With disaster management emerging a major challenge at the time
of calamities, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked the
universities to start courses on the subject to spread awareness and
step up public preparedness to meet any exigencies. In a circular issued
to the registrars of the universities, the UGC has said, "Disaster
Management as a body of knowledge should be introduced as a subject in
Management and Public Administration". UGC took this initiative after
the 2nd Administrative Reform Commission (ARC) expressed concern over
the disaster management strategy and recommended that UGC could
implement it as a subject in selected universities. "You are requested
to take necessary steps for compliance in appropriate courses," the
circular issued to all universities said. ARC had made the
recommendation to the UGC following consultations with the HRD Ministry.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Services/UGC_asks_univ\
ersities_to_launch_course_on_disaster_management/articleshow/2820451.cms



Disaster management panels in districts: Hyderabad: Minister for Major
Industries J. Geeta Reddy on Thursday said that the State would speed up
the formation of Disaster Management Authorities at the district-level
too and have contingency plans to tackle any industrial disaster.
Inaugurating a national conference on chemical (industrial) disaster
management awareness organised by the National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI), she in tune with the need for preparedness to tackle
industrial disasters of different kinds, the State government was now
putting in place District Disaster Management Authorities headed by
Collectors.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/29/stories/2008022956290400.htm

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COASTAL MATTERS

Stress on planting mangrove saplings to prevent calamities: Nagercoil:
Tsunami that occurred in December 26, 2004 damaged the entire coastal
environment in Kanyakumari district, said environmentalist G.
Santhanakumar. Presiding over a seminar organised by the Tamil Nadu
Pollution Control Board and the National Green Corps here on Saturday,
he said that thousands of coastal people died and their belongings,
including their animals were lost. Several schemes were initiated for
preventing and managing such natural disasters and one such a programme
was afforestation of estuarine and the coastal areas by plating mangrove
saplings. Execution of the Green Coast Project had been carried out for
the uplift of coastal environment and fishery development, he said. The
involvement of the local coastal people, lessons learnt and the
constraints faced during the project along with the success story of
mangrove afforestation were discussed in the seminar.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/02/stories/2008030256200600.htm

Forest cover grows by 6.5 per cent: Nagapattinam: Total area of forest
cover in Nagapattinam district had increased from 3.6 per cent to 10 per
cent in the last two years and the Forest department was taking special
efforts to develop the forest area in the district, Collector Tenkasi S.
Jawahar said on Sunday. Presiding over a function organised by the
Forest department to distribute fruit and tree saplings to the villagers
in Kodiakarai area near Vedaranyam, the Collector said that the country
should have one-third of its area under forest cover as per National
Forest Policy. The total forest area is about 17.5 per cent in the
State. Mr. Jawahar said that the Nagapattinam-Vedaranyam Road had been
re-laid at a cost of Rs.10 crore .

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/26/stories/2008022657800600.htm



Project for study of tuna fishes: Kochi: The Department of Electronics
of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) has bagged a
Rs.95-lakh project on 'Development of miniaturised archival tags for the
study of tuna fishes' sanctioned by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The
project is part of the Marine Living Resources Programme of the Centre
for Marine Living Resources and Ecology under the Ministry of Earth
Sciences. P.R.S. Pillai, principal investigator of the project, said in
a press release that the project would be implemented at the Centre for
Ocean Electronics, Department of Electronics.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/28/stories/2008022860400300.htm

Rs.10-crore conservation project to be implemented: Ramanathapuram: The
Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust (GOMBRT) has planned to implement
a series of projects to the tune of Rs.10 crore during the current year.
A proposal to that effect has been sent to the Global Environment Fund
of United Nations Development Programme. The plan is part of the
biodiversity conservation programme being implemented in the Gulf of
Mannar straddling Ramanathapuram and Tuticorin districts.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/26/stories/2008022657910300.htm



Decks cleared for fishing harbour: Rajahmundry: The State government has
sanctioned Rs.7.21 crores for construction of a fishing harbour in
Antarvedi Pallipalem. Razole MLA Alluri Krishnam Raju has stated that
this will change the life of fishermen in Malikipuram, Sakhinetipalli
and Antarvedi Pallipalem areas. Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal
Husbandry departments have already given no objection certificate for
construction of the harbour and the State government has included it in
the recent budget.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/28/stories/2008022853190300.htm



VPT launches beach nourishment: Visakhapatnam: The Visakhapatnam Port
Trust launched beach nourishment work near the Ramakrishna beach on
Monday adopting a new technique to remove sand and silt to arrest
erosion. VPT engaged a dredger belonging to Dredging Corporation of
India to take up four lakh cubic meters of nourishment over a period of
one month by paying at the rate of Rs.25 lakhs to Rs.30 lakhs per day.
Sources told The Hindu that sand collected by the dredger would be
placed further north west of Coastal Battery through a floating pipeline
for the first time from this year. The VPT has been spending on an
average Rs.6 crores every year on nourishment. After the construction of
Outer Harbour in early 1970s, nourishment was taken up as a regular
feature during February/March on expert advice. The VPT built a sand
trap to collect sediment water near the Dolphin's Nose. Following
tsunami and massive boom in constructions along the picturesque 30-km
long marine drive between Visakhapatnam and Bheemunipatnam.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/26/stories/2008022654420500.htm

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LIVELIHOODS

Banks' concern over non-repayment of loans by fishermen: Nagapattinam:
Managers of several commercial banks in the district are keeping their
fingers crossed on collection of loans advanced to fishermen for
purchase and repair of boats that were damaged in the December 2004
tsunami. A senior bank official told The Hindu on Saturday that as per
the directions of the government all commercial banks joined together
and advanced liberal loans to fishermen for purchase of new mechanised
boats. As many as 520 loans were sanctioned to the tune of more than
Rs.35 crore. The cost of each mechanised boat was Rs.20 lakh and the
government provided a subsidy of Rs.5 lakh for each boat purchased by
fishermen. The balance amount of Rs.15 lakh was given as loan. The
official said most of the borrowers were yet to repay their loans and
the banks were now running after the borrowers to collect the dues. The
banks were not in a position to seize the mechanized boats due to
various legal formalities that had to be followed. It was also a tough
task to locate the boats purchased by the fishermen.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/02/stories/2008030251360300.htm


Fishermen require subsidised kerosene: Nagercoil: Kanyakumari Resources
and Research Centre (KRRC) here has urged the Government to provide
subsidy to kerosene for the fishermen community. Its secretary A. Maria
James said the fishermen were using fibre boats fitted with outboard
engines for fishing in the sea. After tsunami, poor fishermen were using
small fibre boats fitted with outboard engines, provided by various
non-governmental organisations and the Government. The main fuel for
these outboard engines was kerosene. The cost of kerosene here was very
high, ranging from Rs. 30 to Rs. 35 a litre in the open market. This
drained a considerable amount from their meagre income.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/26/stories/2008022657930300.htm

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HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Houses for tsunami victims handed over: Nagapattinam: The Chennai-based
Development Promotion Group (DPG), a non-governmental organisation, on
Thursday evening handed over 111 permanent houses to the tsunami victims
at Vellapallam village in Nagapattinam district. R. Bhakther Solomon,
Chief Executive Officer of the DPG, handed over the keys of the houses
to K.S. Kandasamy, District Revenue Officer (Relief and Rehabilitation),
Nagapattinam at a function in Vellapallam. Mr. Kandasamy in turn handed
over the houses to the beneficiaries. The houses were built at a cost of
Rs.3.25 crore with support from Diatonic Emergency Aid (DEA), Germany
and Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED), Germany, he said. Mr.
Kandasamy appreciated the DPG for carrying out tsunami relief and
rehabilitation activities from the beginning and for constructing the
permanent houses adhering to the Government norms and guidelines and
using best quality materials. He said that the district administration
was taking steps to complete handing over of the permanent houses in a
few months time.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/25/stories/2008022552790300.htm



Gift to tsunami-hit: Cuddalore: The Insurance Corporation Employees'
Union has constructed a community centre at the cost of Rs. 20 lakh at
the tsunami-affected Killai near Chidambaram. It will be inaugurated on
February 28, according to S. Raman, general secretary, and M.
Shanmugham, vice-president of the union. They told reporters here that
the community centre would be handed over to the Killai panchayat for
maintenance.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/25/stories/2008022552120300.htm

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WATER AND SANITATION

Engineers Without Borders Provides Clean Water to Villagers: Villagers
in fishing communities along the coast of Andhra Pradesh who had lives
turned topsy-turvy by the Asian tsunami in December 2004 are getting a
helping hand from Engineers Without Borders. Chapters of the
Colorado-based professional volunteer organization in Houston, San
Francisco and Los Angeles are collaborating on an India pilot project to
build a water station dispensing "safe and sustainable drinking water to
these coastal communities," engineer and San Francisco chapter member
Deepa Gandhi told India-West recently. Gandhi and another San Francisco
chapter member, Kimberly Gupta, are traveling this month to the Jalamma
Palem fishing village in Andhra Pradesh to work on a project in the
village of about 200 people.

http://www.indiawest.com/view.php?subaction=showfull&id=1204156313&archive=&star\
t_from=&ucat=3

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WOMEN

Special skill development training for women held: Nagapattinam: The
Indian Overseas Bank, conducted a two-day special skill development
programme exclusively for 60 Muslim women from 25 women Self-Help Groups
(SHGs) here recently. R. Muthusamy, Senior Regional Manager of IOB who
organised the programme said that the training was being provided under
the 15-point programme of the Centre for socio-economic development of
minority communities. The training was given by G. Jaganathan, Director
of the Rural Training Centre, Thanjavur.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/25/stories/2008022552780300.htm

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Other Countries:

INDONESIA

Australia to finish construction of 1,500 houses in Aceh: Banda Aceh -
The Australian government through the Australian Red Cross (ARC) has set
a target of completing the development of 1,500 houses for tsunami
victims in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) province in November 2008. "We
are now able to set a target because preparations for construction work
are already ripe and running well," Australian Red Cross chief delegate
in Indonesia Bill Marsden said after handing over houses in Baitussalam
subdisrict, Aceh Besar district, here on Saturday. He said that the
construction of the houses was slightly delayed due to technical
constraints but as a whole work would be finished on schedule. The
tsunami victims had been waiting for them for a long time. Of the 1,500
houses, about 50 percent have been built and have been turned over to
the locals who suffered from the devastating tsunami which hit the
province in December 2004. These houses are scattered in districts of
Aceh Besar, Banda Aceh, Aceh Jaya and other districts in the province.
About 100 houses however are built for the victims in other regions

http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2008/3/2/australia-to-finish-construction-of-1-50\
0-houses-in-aceh/



SRI LANKA

Opening of USAID-Funded Roads and Drainage Systems in Pottuvil, Ampara:
Colombo 29 February, (Asiantribune.com): The United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Office for
Project Services (UNOPS) announced the opening of the newly-constructed
eight km of low maintenance, durable roads and drainage structures
throughout the Pottuvil division of the Ampara District. In the past,
the roads flooded and became almost impassable; today, with the
professionally-constructed roads and drainage structures, residents and
visitors can travel with ease. The finished roads have had a major
impact on the community in Pottuvil. Because the roads are now paved,
the reduction of dust in the town is significant. Additionally, the
local population's access to many essential services, including schools,
health clinics and places of worship, has been dramatically improved by
the new transportation systems.

http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/9814



Recovery in tsunami ravaged north and east government spearheads
reconstruction drive: SCOPP Report: Sri Lanka has made remarkable
progress in restoring normalcy in Tsunami affected areas of the North
and the East. Reconstruction and recovery activity under the aegis of
the Government has been rapid. A majority of the displaced have returned
to their homes and their livelihoods were restored. The memory of the
disaster is gradually fading. It is being replaced by the brighter
things that life has to offer to the unfortunate victims. Read the full
report at
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/LSGZ-7C9E4S/$File/full_report.pdf

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-7C9E4S?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=\
TS-2004-000147-LKA



UNICEF to rebuild 11 schools: UNICEF yesterday said that it would
support the Government of Sri Lanka in its efforts to complete the
rebuilding of an additional 11 tsunami-affected schools in the southern
and eastern provinces. This followed a protest staged yesterday by the
students of Ginthota Maha Vidyalaya Galle who said that UNICEF had not
rebuilt the school that was destroyed by the tsunami, although the
organization had earlier promised to do so. A statement by UNICEF said:
It has issued a notice for expressions of interest from construction
management companies, which will be published in newspapers this Sunday,
nationwide. Speaking from Colombo, UNICEF Chief of Education, Ita
Sheehy, said that there was no question that UNICEF would finish the
schools, noting that it had already completed 15 schools in Sri Lanka
with six more due to open by June 2008. 'We understand the frustration
of the local community," said Sheehy. 'We were asked by the Ministry of
Education just over a year ago to take responsibility for these
additional 11 schools. We have a proven record of completion, and we are
fully committed to build these new schools within a time-frame we will
share with the community shortly.'

http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=7817

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MALAYSIA

Tsunami victims threaten protest vote: Malaysia's tsunami victims are
threatening to cast a protest vote against the government in March 8
polls over broken promises for new homes and mismanagement of relief
funds. In the sleepy town of Kota Kuala Muda in northern Kedah state,
villagers whose homes were swept away by the deadly waves say that more
than three years after the tragedy the government has still not kept its
word. "I was given a letter and keys by Deputy Prime Minister Najib
Razak in 2005 to a temporary settlement with a promise that we will be
later shifted to a new house," says Abdul Wahab Zainon. "It breaks my
heart when the promise is broken. I don't know why they did this to me,"
said the 57-year-old, who still lives in his damaged house with his family.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23278643-2703,00.html

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Disclaimer:

This news update is provided by TRINet for the benefit of those working
in tsunami rehabilitation

purely for information purposes only.

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