Five Years After the Tsunami

A couple of colleagues (auditors, officially) from the International Diabetes Federation headquarters in Brussels were in town the past week evaluating one of our intervention studies. Yesterday (Sunday 9/13/09) they had some down time, so they planned a quick trip to nearby Mahabalipuram and invited me to join. Of course, I could not resist the chance to see a new place - even a place with more South Indian temples (I think I have seen enough temples for the next few months). It is also unreasonably warm during the day, which I am told is due to lack of rain over the past two weeks. In case you did not know (I did not), during these 3 or 4 "winter" months it rains intermittently, which helps to cool the temperature. But we don't have winter here. We have only three seasons: hot, hotter, and hottest. I think right now we're straddling the fence between hot and hotter. Can't wait for hottest! Anyway, I will let the temple pictures from Mahabalipuram speak for themselves. Clearly, they are seaside temples, which is neat. I don't remember the significance of them now. The pictured boulder was a nifty addition to the otherwise ho-hum temple tour.

What was more interesting for me and made the trip worthwhile (in addition to the good company) was the chance to travel down the East Coast Road which leads from Chennai to Pondicherry. Our driver's (his name is Gopi) wife comes from the coastal areas along this road -- areas that were ravaged by the tsunami in December of 2004. Gopi us to stop by these areas and to look for ourselves at what was happening. These images are of the old, seaside homes that were occupied before the tsunami. I think you can get an idea from the images of the extent of the damage and also the size of the former homes (compared to the new homes in forthcoming images).





Gopi said 10 years ago he was married here.


The next images show where Gopi's wife's family is currently living, almost 5 years after the tsunami. The tenements are unbelievably small, overcrowded, and inadequate. There is no running water (yet no odd smells surprisingly). As in all of India, everybody seems to have a television and cable connection, as well as a cellphone. Our hosts even managed to procure and offer us a cold Pepsi (which we all declined) -- Indians are generally quite hospitable. One ceiling fan hangs from the rafter of the hut I visited; I nearly received a free haircut courtesy of the fan. I can send you the picture if you're interested.

Finally, these last images are of the new, government-constructed homes being built just down the road (but further inland) from the site of the original homes. The homes are given at no cost (well, at least no direct cost) to the tsunami victims. The buildings are split-level, in that an entire family (regardless of number of members) gets either the upper portion or the lower portion of one free-standing building. The actual size of the home is quite small. From the last picture, you can see the main room. To the right of the main room are two rooms: a kitchen and bedroom. Straight ahead is one small bathroom. That's it.

I am not sure what to make of this. Why did it take so long to construct these? Why such small homes? But I guess permanent housing is better than the huts that are currently serving as home, right? India is not so wealthy as to be able to construct haphazardly without first tendering contracts, finding the cheapest builder with reasonable quality standards. Nor are they efficient enough to push promises such as free housing to victims of natural disasters through the bureaucracy quickly. There are also whispers of pilfering at multiple levels (both public and private) and shoddy workmanship, accounting for smaller sizes and poor-quality homes. Transparency in Indian state-level bureaucracy is a real issue. But supposedly, it's getting better. On the flip side, all-in-all, the Indians handled the tsunami and its aftermath considerably better than the Americans handled Katrina and its aftermath. Having visited New Orleans only months ago, many homes in the city remain in disarray with many residents having yet to return to the city. In that light, maybe 5 years to get a new home is not so bad

One final thought... I would blog more often if it did not take so long. Any tips on how to speed the process along?