No boats and nets: The livelihoods crisis
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45,920 boats have been lost or damaged in the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, India. The replacement of boats and nets and the restoration of their livelihoods is uppermost in fishermen's minds. But each boat could cost between Rs 10,000-80,000. A special report on the priorities of rehabilitation from Cuddalore district
The Bay of Bengal coast in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu will remind you of the prop of a surreal movie.
Catamarans (country fishing craft) are torn apart and perched upon casuarina trees bent by the invading waves. Shreds of fishing nets studded with brightly coloured floats are stuck amid broken branches.
The soundtrack plays an eerie silence, occasionally broken by the deep rumbling of waves, the soothing sound of sea breeze and the drone of casuarina needles. There is nobody anywhere, as 210 of the 250 families here have been affected by the tsunami.
And those who visit prefer not to make any noise whatsoever.
"I do not know where my boat is gone," said M Kandasami, a fisherman, after much prodding.
Kandasami, along with his three daughters, survived the tsunami. Water had gushed into their home while his wife was away selling fish. His little daughter was washed away, but she caught hold of a neem tree some 200 feet away and escaped too.
All that is left where his house stood is powdery white sand left by the waves.
The waves reached over a kilometre inland, washing away many people and houses, boats and nets - creating a livelihood crisis.
Nobody here knows where the waves have washed away their boats, catamarans and nets or who the bits left on the trees belong to. Kandasami's neighbours inspected the logs left in the casuarina grove and one of them declared: "Even if someone diligently collects them all, they are utterly useless."
You cannot tie together a catamaran or build a boat from broken wood.
Replacement of fishing boats and nets are the prime concern on fishermen's minds now.
In Tamil Nadu a total of 45,920 boats have been lost or damaged in the tsunami, said a government spokesperson.
But restoration can cost huge sums. Each sailing catamaran can cost Rs 10,000, a outboard engine-fitted fibreglass boat called 'maruthi' Rs 40,000, each big vessel Rs 80,000, and each big net an average of Rs 100,000.
Confirming that restoration of vessels was the priority were at least 20 fishermen interviewed along the coast of Cuddalore - a district of 100,000 people that has lost 612 people to the December 26 tsunami, with 24,204 people still living in 38 relief camps after the first fortnight of January.
District Collector Gagandeep Singh Bedi, a popular figure over here, is worried about unwanted charity. "There are heaps of used clothes lying unused in temporary relief camps," he said.
People scoff at cheap charity.
A Kumar, a fisherman in Chinnoor, another badly hit village in Cuddalore, lost his boat and net as 30-foot waves carried him from coastal waters 3 km away to another village, shredding his clothes, leaving him naked amid thorny bushes.
While agencies frequented his village with used clothes, food ration, cash doles and promises of shelter and support, Kumar said: "I do not need any money. Let me get a boat and nets and I will make money, buy my own things."
But he admitted that the shirt he was wearing was donated.
Tamil fishermen are typically known to be brawny, brave and independent. "Arguably they have the best traditional skills in the country," said V Vivekanandan, CEO of the South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies. "They are not poor people."
The first quarter of the year marks the peak of the fishing season here, when a three-member crew with catamaran can earn Rs 2,000-3,000 a day or even Rs 5,000, and save for a rainy day.
It is in such a season that the tsunami broke.
People need to go back to the sea. "Restoration of livelihood options is the best bet to get them back to their normal lives," said P J Chacko, Oxfam's Programme Implementing Co-ordinator in India. Oxfam will be starting a livelihood strategy soon.
"Getting back to work and a normal routine immediately is important from a psychosocial point of view as well," said Aloysius James, a development consultant of the Dutch humanitarian agency Cordaid. "People can independently handle their immediate requirements as well."
There are several efforts aimed at livelihood restoration. A team of seven volunteers from the Washington-based NGO Asian Development Fund have taken over the repair of boats and fishing equipments at the Akkarai Ghori village in this district. "But fishermen would prefer new material," said Vivekanandan, noting an exception to the general no-dole attitude.
But then it is not just the loss of craft and gear that is preventing people from going to sea. "There is a fear of the sea among young people," said Kumar. "It is us who are over 30 who are dying to get back. The younger generation would rather find some other job."
Many had diversified before the tsunami. Kumar's younger brother Sundara Murthy, a hotel worker in Male now on holiday, said several of his batchmates were migrant labourers in the Gulf countries.
It is a rather complex job for humanitarian agencies and government officials. While a section of them talk about replacing the number of fishing boats lost, others tend to ruminate on the nuances involved.
"We don't want to play a number game," said Chacko. "We would like to see how the tsunami has jeopardised livelihoods and how best to restore them."
Observers say the best bet would be supporting to a basket of activities including fishing, fish marketing, value addition and promotion of fish consumption at a time when rumours abound about the low quality of fish after the tsunami. Reportedly, there is also concern among local people that fish might have eaten human bodies.
There must also be some mechanism to support people who are indirectly linked with the fishing industry, like labourers and farmers.
For it is not only fisherpeople who have suffered as a result of tsunami. The entry of seawater 1 to 1.5 km inland has also meant that there has been a loss of 10,245 hectares of croplands in Tamil Nadu.
The fields are saline due to seawater entry and no crop will grow for years.
One of the most affected communities is the dalits, a large section of them landless labourers, who live in poverty and social exclusion. "Dalits will have to get special focussed attention in livelihood measures," said James. "They are often left out of the whole process as we found in many instances after the Gujarat earthquake."
(Max Martin is a freelance writer based in Bangalore)
InfoChange News & Features, January 2005