Pankaj Sekhsaria's Blog, page 13
January 8, 2015
The Last Wave - in Literature Review, The Hindu
Serpents in Eden
SHEILA KUMAR
A meticulous and woefully long listing of the many issues that assail the Andaman Islands.
http://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/article6748635.ece
Harish Kumar comes to the Andaman Islands to … well, it’s not clear what his purpose is. What he sees, who he meets and interacts with, what he notices… makes up the story and it is not the happiest of tales. This is a paradise — with its coral, exotic fish, turtles, dolphin, forests full of game, honey, timber and bamboo — on a slow inexorable slide into urban hell.
Much of what Sekhsaria lays out is not new but is dismaying for all that. Given that the 2011 census pegged the population of the A&N Islands at 3,80,581, of which the Jarawas are a measly 300, it is clear who will win this battle. The indigenous people, once feared, now exploited, are up against a community who clear the forest, prepare the fields, construct houses and settle down. Add political machinations and business considerations to this mix and what you get is not a pretty picture.
With civilisation, of course, comes the impending ruin of the indigenous peoples, with ‘Jarawa tourism’ taking hold, people giving the tribals packaged food, tobacco and pan masala and of course, taking photographs of the naked men and women with salacious intent. There are blatant violations of international waters by Burma’s Karen tribals, fishing for sea cucumbers and more serious plunder. There are unauthorised visits facilitated by the greasing of many official palms, of outsiders who come to gawp or document the Jarawa. Or worse, to sleep with Jarawa women. Outbreaks of measles among the Jarawas are hushed up by the authorities. Unscrupulous timber logging is depleting the natural forest cover. Mangroves are converted to paddy fields and plantations. A flourishing trade in croc skins ensues. Religious fairs are held inside Jarawa areas. And, of course, the Andaman Trunk Road that cuts into Jarawa territory; lifeline or yet another incursion?
As the story draws to a conclusion of sorts, the 2004 tsunami hits and cripples the Andamans. Sekhsaria’s account of the wall of water that sweeps everything before it, snapping giant evergreen trees like so many matchsticks, is gripping. The book, going by pure content, deserves a place in the pantheon of literature about the Andaman Islands. However, some skilful editing would have made it a much better read; as it is, the slipshod editing grates. Awkward sentences abound. Hands are cut off at the shoulder. She doesn’t ‘register’ him. It demanded ‘to be itched’. People ‘pour’ over papers. Someone’s ‘eyes perk up’. ‘What might she have told him? Him her?’
At times, the anthropologist in Sekhsaria overwhelms the novelist. The story is woven around environmental and anthropological concerns, so the many characters don’t hold the reader’s interest in more than a cursory fashion. The author wants us to know and absorb much information, so people sermonise or lecture for pages on end.
Ultimately, Sekhsaria cares about the islands, the vanished Ongles and Great Andamanese, the spirits of the forest, the Jarawas, the fast-changing character of the dense rainforest canopy, and that is what this book is about. I can’t help feeling, though, that it would have been a better piece of non-fiction. The passages that give us a potted history of the islands, tell us about the wave of humans encroaching on prime crocodile habitat, the Giant Leatherback turtles coming in to lay their eggs, the history of the Local Borns, how Aniket got its name, how the Jarawas collect honey without getting stung are so interesting, you really don’t want Harish and Seema — the two main characters — intruding.
The Last Wave: An Island Novel; Pankaj Sekhsaria, HarperCollins, Rs.350
SHEILA KUMAR
A meticulous and woefully long listing of the many issues that assail the Andaman Islands.
http://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/article6748635.ece
Harish Kumar comes to the Andaman Islands to … well, it’s not clear what his purpose is. What he sees, who he meets and interacts with, what he notices… makes up the story and it is not the happiest of tales. This is a paradise — with its coral, exotic fish, turtles, dolphin, forests full of game, honey, timber and bamboo — on a slow inexorable slide into urban hell.
Much of what Sekhsaria lays out is not new but is dismaying for all that. Given that the 2011 census pegged the population of the A&N Islands at 3,80,581, of which the Jarawas are a measly 300, it is clear who will win this battle. The indigenous people, once feared, now exploited, are up against a community who clear the forest, prepare the fields, construct houses and settle down. Add political machinations and business considerations to this mix and what you get is not a pretty picture.
With civilisation, of course, comes the impending ruin of the indigenous peoples, with ‘Jarawa tourism’ taking hold, people giving the tribals packaged food, tobacco and pan masala and of course, taking photographs of the naked men and women with salacious intent. There are blatant violations of international waters by Burma’s Karen tribals, fishing for sea cucumbers and more serious plunder. There are unauthorised visits facilitated by the greasing of many official palms, of outsiders who come to gawp or document the Jarawa. Or worse, to sleep with Jarawa women. Outbreaks of measles among the Jarawas are hushed up by the authorities. Unscrupulous timber logging is depleting the natural forest cover. Mangroves are converted to paddy fields and plantations. A flourishing trade in croc skins ensues. Religious fairs are held inside Jarawa areas. And, of course, the Andaman Trunk Road that cuts into Jarawa territory; lifeline or yet another incursion?
As the story draws to a conclusion of sorts, the 2004 tsunami hits and cripples the Andamans. Sekhsaria’s account of the wall of water that sweeps everything before it, snapping giant evergreen trees like so many matchsticks, is gripping. The book, going by pure content, deserves a place in the pantheon of literature about the Andaman Islands. However, some skilful editing would have made it a much better read; as it is, the slipshod editing grates. Awkward sentences abound. Hands are cut off at the shoulder. She doesn’t ‘register’ him. It demanded ‘to be itched’. People ‘pour’ over papers. Someone’s ‘eyes perk up’. ‘What might she have told him? Him her?’
At times, the anthropologist in Sekhsaria overwhelms the novelist. The story is woven around environmental and anthropological concerns, so the many characters don’t hold the reader’s interest in more than a cursory fashion. The author wants us to know and absorb much information, so people sermonise or lecture for pages on end.
Ultimately, Sekhsaria cares about the islands, the vanished Ongles and Great Andamanese, the spirits of the forest, the Jarawas, the fast-changing character of the dense rainforest canopy, and that is what this book is about. I can’t help feeling, though, that it would have been a better piece of non-fiction. The passages that give us a potted history of the islands, tell us about the wave of humans encroaching on prime crocodile habitat, the Giant Leatherback turtles coming in to lay their eggs, the history of the Local Borns, how Aniket got its name, how the Jarawas collect honey without getting stung are so interesting, you really don’t want Harish and Seema — the two main characters — intruding.
The Last Wave: An Island Novel; Pankaj Sekhsaria, HarperCollins, Rs.350
Dec 28, 2004; a post on andamanicobar@yahoogroups.co.in; revisiting December 2004
Dec 28, 2014
Dear Friends,
There have been regular postings on this group on what different people have been able to put together about what is happening on the islands. As is evident there is also a lot many queries about what needs to be done and what can be done.
I have been in touch with Samir through the day and now power and communications at least in Port Blair is much better. The situation in the Nicobars is rather bad and we still do not have any information either from the Central Nicobars and Great Nicobar.
The islands are continuosly experiencing tremors and this is compounding the problem. Samir mentioned that last night following one of these aftershocks, for example, the passenger jetty in Little Andaman too is reported to have collapsed.
I have also asked Samir what is it that is needed and what is it that we can do. His first reactions were that probably money and such resources are not needed, but that volunteers would certainly be of help. But this is still very initial suggestions.
In the meanwhile, ActionAid and Oxfam have been in touch, and in fact, an initial small joint team of the two organisations will be going to Port Blair in a couple of days, most likely day after tomorrow. They will be in touch with Samir, and hopefully will also be able to meet senior government officials. Following this, I assume they will work out their plan of action, and also figure out what is most urgently needed, what can be done and what is the kind of inputs and help that is needed. I would believe that these organisations with their expertise would be best placed to decide what it is that needs to be done. We will be constantly in touch with them, and based on what they say is required, we can try and garner our resources and energies towards that. In the present situation that does seem to be the best way forward. It will be a couple of days more before we get an idea of what is needed, but it might be worth the wait.
In the meanwhile, if we do hear from the islands or directly from Samir that particular kinds of inputs are needed, we can certainly try and take that up as well.
thanks
Pankaj Sekhsaria
Dear Friends,
There have been regular postings on this group on what different people have been able to put together about what is happening on the islands. As is evident there is also a lot many queries about what needs to be done and what can be done.
I have been in touch with Samir through the day and now power and communications at least in Port Blair is much better. The situation in the Nicobars is rather bad and we still do not have any information either from the Central Nicobars and Great Nicobar.
The islands are continuosly experiencing tremors and this is compounding the problem. Samir mentioned that last night following one of these aftershocks, for example, the passenger jetty in Little Andaman too is reported to have collapsed.
I have also asked Samir what is it that is needed and what is it that we can do. His first reactions were that probably money and such resources are not needed, but that volunteers would certainly be of help. But this is still very initial suggestions.
In the meanwhile, ActionAid and Oxfam have been in touch, and in fact, an initial small joint team of the two organisations will be going to Port Blair in a couple of days, most likely day after tomorrow. They will be in touch with Samir, and hopefully will also be able to meet senior government officials. Following this, I assume they will work out their plan of action, and also figure out what is most urgently needed, what can be done and what is the kind of inputs and help that is needed. I would believe that these organisations with their expertise would be best placed to decide what it is that needs to be done. We will be constantly in touch with them, and based on what they say is required, we can try and garner our resources and energies towards that. In the present situation that does seem to be the best way forward. It will be a couple of days more before we get an idea of what is needed, but it might be worth the wait.
In the meanwhile, if we do hear from the islands or directly from Samir that particular kinds of inputs are needed, we can certainly try and take that up as well.
thanks
Pankaj Sekhsaria
January 3, 2015
2014 hrs, Dec 28, 2004; a post on andamanicobar@yahoogroups.co.in; revisiting the tsunami of Dec. 2004
Dec 28, 2004
2014 hrs
Dear Pankaj, Sharbendu, Anwar and others:
Today a meeting was held in Delhi at GPF (Gandhi Peace Foundation) basically to find out what Delhi groups can do in terms of relief and rehabilitation. It was organised at the initiative of Centre for Education and Communication, The Other Media, Jagori and Delhi Forum. ISI, Anhad, Sruti, Academy for Mountain Environics, Christian Aid, HMS, CITU, NFF and others' representatives were present.
Regarding the southern Indian States, it was felt from the feed back that came that help is needed in terms of mainly rehabilitation a nd rebuilding of livelihood of the fishing community. Materials should not be sent from Delhi. Rather fund could be sent for local buying and other use. As the meeting of Chennai groups was still going on, the Delhi meeting could not decide the exact quantum of help and felt perhaps an assessment was needed. It was also decided to open a separate bank account in the name of Tsunami Relief Fund to be administered by the Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation Committee Delhi.
The meeting specially discussed the state of Andaman and Nicobar islands, the lack of information, the possibility and magnitude of devastation and the security blanket of the Defence Ministry. It has been decided that a team of 5-6 people will be sent from Delhi very soon consisting of some experts on housing, disaster management, tribal and indigenous people, social medicine. Mohini Giri has volunteered. Shabnam Hashmi of Anhad will be co-ordinating the travel arrangement and permission from the Defence Ministry - literally a political yes from the Centre. It would help the team to tour the islands extensively wherever possible and make assessments and then prepare a report.
It will be good to get a feedback from you all and perhaps help the team on the island itself, with essential knowledge, name of persons you may suggest for the team etc. The minutes of the meeting will be circulated tomorrow and I will definitely post a copy to the group.
In the meantime, any posting from the group could be sent also to jjohn@vsnl.com; anhad_delhi@yahoo.co.in; ravi@theothermedia.org; jimmy@unv.ernet.in; jagori@spectranet.com;
We are extremely sorry that being decided at the last moment (was sending invitations till 9.30 in the night), we perhaps missed some of you who are in Delhi at present and could have contributed a lot. Will ensure that date and venues of the next meetings will be communicated.
In solidarity
Souparna Lahiri
Co-ordinator
Delhi Forum
2014 hrs
Dear Pankaj, Sharbendu, Anwar and others:
Today a meeting was held in Delhi at GPF (Gandhi Peace Foundation) basically to find out what Delhi groups can do in terms of relief and rehabilitation. It was organised at the initiative of Centre for Education and Communication, The Other Media, Jagori and Delhi Forum. ISI, Anhad, Sruti, Academy for Mountain Environics, Christian Aid, HMS, CITU, NFF and others' representatives were present.
Regarding the southern Indian States, it was felt from the feed back that came that help is needed in terms of mainly rehabilitation a nd rebuilding of livelihood of the fishing community. Materials should not be sent from Delhi. Rather fund could be sent for local buying and other use. As the meeting of Chennai groups was still going on, the Delhi meeting could not decide the exact quantum of help and felt perhaps an assessment was needed. It was also decided to open a separate bank account in the name of Tsunami Relief Fund to be administered by the Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation Committee Delhi.
The meeting specially discussed the state of Andaman and Nicobar islands, the lack of information, the possibility and magnitude of devastation and the security blanket of the Defence Ministry. It has been decided that a team of 5-6 people will be sent from Delhi very soon consisting of some experts on housing, disaster management, tribal and indigenous people, social medicine. Mohini Giri has volunteered. Shabnam Hashmi of Anhad will be co-ordinating the travel arrangement and permission from the Defence Ministry - literally a political yes from the Centre. It would help the team to tour the islands extensively wherever possible and make assessments and then prepare a report.
It will be good to get a feedback from you all and perhaps help the team on the island itself, with essential knowledge, name of persons you may suggest for the team etc. The minutes of the meeting will be circulated tomorrow and I will definitely post a copy to the group.
In the meantime, any posting from the group could be sent also to jjohn@vsnl.com; anhad_delhi@yahoo.co.in; ravi@theothermedia.org; jimmy@unv.ernet.in; jagori@spectranet.com;
We are extremely sorry that being decided at the last moment (was sending invitations till 9.30 in the night), we perhaps missed some of you who are in Delhi at present and could have contributed a lot. Will ensure that date and venues of the next meetings will be communicated.
In solidarity
Souparna Lahiri
Co-ordinator
Delhi Forum
January 1, 2015
The Last Wave - A review
“The world he belongs to did not want to annihilate the Jarawas, but it did not seem to know better”
A review of The Last Wave
See: http://maleccha.wordpress.com/2015/01/01/the-world-he-belongs-to-did-not-want-to-annihilate-the-jarawas-but-it-did-not-seem-to-know-better/
A review of The Last Wave
See: http://maleccha.wordpress.com/2015/01/01/the-world-he-belongs-to-did-not-want-to-annihilate-the-jarawas-but-it-did-not-seem-to-know-better/
1905hrs, Dec 28, 2004, post on andamanicobar@yahoogroups.co.in; revisiting the tsunami of Dec 2004
Dec 28, 2004
1905 hrs
I hope we'll meet all of you soon
As news of the Tsunami victims keep pouring in...images of these people and places keep filling up my mind and I stay with these fond memories. I hope all of you are safe somewhere. Our prayers are with you all and we are hoping that this time will pass soon.
Samir, Gita and Koyal- for me and many others, especially those who work to make the Islands a better managed place, they are the 'First Family'.Sukumari chechi, Samir's strong right hand. Dennis and Reshmi and others at SANE.
Uncle Pao, Uncle Pambe and the ANET family at what's called the 'base'. Just three days before the quake, we were envying the centre table's role in the lives of the ANET family! I hope its still there.
At Mayabandar:
Alex, the tattoed boatman and his generous family. Mainlanders such as us know him as Ravi's (Sankaran) boatman!!Ravi's team protecting the Edible nest swiftlets at Chalees ek (41) caves.
The Nicobars- the land of the captains and their folks who celebrate Kinruak (the festival to honour and remember their ancestors) The pretty Mus jetty at Car Nic- with a spectacular coral tree against the blue sky and a large pandamus. Someone told me that the jetty's gone...
An RFO from Car Nic, whose name I didn't write down, unfortunately...was most helpful with suggestions on accomodation and food.
Nancowry Islands
Robert Pee, Range officer at Kamorta, who's daughter is at Bangalore and who I am supposed to meet when I go there next.
Bandana and Vijay; doing their wildlife research and with them were Johny and Joseph, assisting and ofcourse teaching.
The Queen mother, Rashid and his beautiful wife and kids, Ayesha didi
Uncle Lemian and daughter Doris who told us about the days when the Japs landed in the islands
Tong Kumar, the first captain of Trinket and who still remains the leader of his folks .
At Great Nic
Capt VRN Shetty and wife- we had many cups of chai from their huge flask over a session of their endless fight against the Island Admin for building walls to stop the seas.
The Govt machinery that gave us no trouble at all! AC saab Jagjit Singh, chhote AC saab, ACF- Chaterjee Shabnam- the sprightly Tribal Welfare officer who had earned the trust of the Shompens. Her little daughter Pallavi, her father and brother.
'Southern Most General Store' - it brought home the truth that we call the Islands ours but its never in our active consideration...for us mainlanders, Kanyakumari is the last stop down south.
Savari' s boss; the young Shankar (Savari is the name of his Mahindra gaadi, he's very popular with tourists!)
Agou, Glen and Victor- the dynamic threesome that manned the ANET forest camp at Galathea. All between 18-21years, they did their job of surveying the turtles that came to the beach each night to start another generation of them, with great responsibility and pride. So much so that they were a constant motivation to the forest staff based there too. Agou, thanks for all the fish, supari and juicy paan leaves that you saved up for me. Just hang in there and I promise we'll make a trip to Kaziranga so that you can see the rhino.
Korma Rao, Charles, Ilias and Chandra of the Forest Department stationed at Galathea stayed on at the beach even though they preferred a better posting in town. They made space for us in their camp without grumbling about our long stay.
The setting sun at the point where the Galathea meets the ocean....the turtles and their babies, the megapodes and the N. pigeons and many other creatures
To you all and the scores of others who are out there, my prayers, good wishes and affection.
Manju Menon
Kalpavriksh
1905 hrs
I hope we'll meet all of you soon
As news of the Tsunami victims keep pouring in...images of these people and places keep filling up my mind and I stay with these fond memories. I hope all of you are safe somewhere. Our prayers are with you all and we are hoping that this time will pass soon.
Samir, Gita and Koyal- for me and many others, especially those who work to make the Islands a better managed place, they are the 'First Family'.Sukumari chechi, Samir's strong right hand. Dennis and Reshmi and others at SANE.
Uncle Pao, Uncle Pambe and the ANET family at what's called the 'base'. Just three days before the quake, we were envying the centre table's role in the lives of the ANET family! I hope its still there.
At Mayabandar:
Alex, the tattoed boatman and his generous family. Mainlanders such as us know him as Ravi's (Sankaran) boatman!!Ravi's team protecting the Edible nest swiftlets at Chalees ek (41) caves.
The Nicobars- the land of the captains and their folks who celebrate Kinruak (the festival to honour and remember their ancestors) The pretty Mus jetty at Car Nic- with a spectacular coral tree against the blue sky and a large pandamus. Someone told me that the jetty's gone...
An RFO from Car Nic, whose name I didn't write down, unfortunately...was most helpful with suggestions on accomodation and food.
Nancowry Islands
Robert Pee, Range officer at Kamorta, who's daughter is at Bangalore and who I am supposed to meet when I go there next.
Bandana and Vijay; doing their wildlife research and with them were Johny and Joseph, assisting and ofcourse teaching.
The Queen mother, Rashid and his beautiful wife and kids, Ayesha didi
Uncle Lemian and daughter Doris who told us about the days when the Japs landed in the islands
Tong Kumar, the first captain of Trinket and who still remains the leader of his folks .
At Great Nic
Capt VRN Shetty and wife- we had many cups of chai from their huge flask over a session of their endless fight against the Island Admin for building walls to stop the seas.
The Govt machinery that gave us no trouble at all! AC saab Jagjit Singh, chhote AC saab, ACF- Chaterjee Shabnam- the sprightly Tribal Welfare officer who had earned the trust of the Shompens. Her little daughter Pallavi, her father and brother.
'Southern Most General Store' - it brought home the truth that we call the Islands ours but its never in our active consideration...for us mainlanders, Kanyakumari is the last stop down south.
Savari' s boss; the young Shankar (Savari is the name of his Mahindra gaadi, he's very popular with tourists!)
Agou, Glen and Victor- the dynamic threesome that manned the ANET forest camp at Galathea. All between 18-21years, they did their job of surveying the turtles that came to the beach each night to start another generation of them, with great responsibility and pride. So much so that they were a constant motivation to the forest staff based there too. Agou, thanks for all the fish, supari and juicy paan leaves that you saved up for me. Just hang in there and I promise we'll make a trip to Kaziranga so that you can see the rhino.
Korma Rao, Charles, Ilias and Chandra of the Forest Department stationed at Galathea stayed on at the beach even though they preferred a better posting in town. They made space for us in their camp without grumbling about our long stay.
The setting sun at the point where the Galathea meets the ocean....the turtles and their babies, the megapodes and the N. pigeons and many other creatures
To you all and the scores of others who are out there, my prayers, good wishes and affection.
Manju Menon
Kalpavriksh
December 30, 2014
1846 hrs, Dec 27, 2004: a post on andamanicobar@yahoogroups.co.in; revisiting the tsunami of 2004
Dec 27, 2004 (day of posting email by person)
1846 hrs
Hello all
God bless every body. It is really sad for those who died in the devastating Tsunami. It is severe at the time since it included many tourists and recreationers in the peak season.
I really expressing my deep feelings for those affected have seen in the TV news here. Could not imagine first time when we faced the quake. Today have seen the events have come in the headline coverage of the all national dailies.
Fortunately Bangladesh face very very less comparing the other regional. We have experience while in the morning 0709 hours faced the moderate vibration and finally found it was a quake. In Cox's bazaar, on the beach, high wave and also in the deep sea fishermen faced high wave and unpredictable waves while they were fishing according to some returned fishermen. In St. Martin Island, seashore tidal surge came suddenly after getting downwards for a short time. But nothing happened yet notified. But since it is time of calm weather most of the fishermen are out in the deep sea. Still there are possibilities of missing fishermen in the offshore areas.
Quake jolts country, Bangladesh
We are lucky because of the long distance from the epicentre. One four-year old boy was reported to have been killed in Bangladesh as a result of the massive earthquake that caused thousands to die in other parts of Southern Asia. He was traveling in a trawler off the coast of Barisal when the trawler capsized. The boy's brother is still missing.
The earthquake off the coast of Indonesia sent three aftershocks across Bangladesh cracking buildings and surging the water levels of rivers, lakes and ponds. However experts say that the relatively small damage and loss of life was because of Bangladesh's distance from the quake's epicentre.
The biggest of the tremors was recorded at Bangladesh's lone observatory in Chittagong at 7 am and measured 7.36 on the Richter scale and lasted for 42 seconds. It was 1019 kilometres away from the seismic centre. The second tremor was measured almost two hours later at 4.35 on the scale.
It was reported that the family of four-year old boy who died was travelling as tourists. They were with tourists, traveling by trawlers from coastal tour spot to a offshore island. One of the trawlers capsized during the water swells caused by the earthquake. All other passengers were safely rescued. In Dhaka, the water of the Dhanmondi lake surged significantly.
The sleeping students of the hall, which is already under threat of collapse due to lack of maintenance, came running out of their dormitories. The Al-Beruni hall developed some new cracks.
In Chittagong the tremor, the tenth in the city this year - cracked some old buildings and swelled water by 4 to 5 feet in the ponds and other water bodies. A total of 78 earthquakes have been recorded in Chittagong in the last three years
The public library and railway buildings in the port city which already had cracks due to past quakes widened following yesterday's jolt while the streets were suddenly full of panic-stricken people, police and witnesses said.
Met office staffs said that sea became very rough and there was a fear of tidal waves. In many places reported that the quake lasted for six to 30 seconds and surged the water in the rivers, canals and ponds by a few feet.
This type of earthquake occurred in 1734 and created tsunami through out the coastal region of Bangladesh. There is geological evidence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts that tidal waves rose up to 20 feet above the ground level according to Bangladesh Geological Survey. Bangladesh lucky despite the fact that the richter scale record was very high.
Really sorry for those got the problem seriously and died....god will be with you...
best regards
Zahirul Islam
MarineLife Alliance
Holding #16, South Chartha
Comilla 3500
Bangladesh
Email: marinelife_al@yahoo.com, sturcnet@hotmail.com
1846 hrs
Hello all
God bless every body. It is really sad for those who died in the devastating Tsunami. It is severe at the time since it included many tourists and recreationers in the peak season.
I really expressing my deep feelings for those affected have seen in the TV news here. Could not imagine first time when we faced the quake. Today have seen the events have come in the headline coverage of the all national dailies.
Fortunately Bangladesh face very very less comparing the other regional. We have experience while in the morning 0709 hours faced the moderate vibration and finally found it was a quake. In Cox's bazaar, on the beach, high wave and also in the deep sea fishermen faced high wave and unpredictable waves while they were fishing according to some returned fishermen. In St. Martin Island, seashore tidal surge came suddenly after getting downwards for a short time. But nothing happened yet notified. But since it is time of calm weather most of the fishermen are out in the deep sea. Still there are possibilities of missing fishermen in the offshore areas.
Quake jolts country, Bangladesh
We are lucky because of the long distance from the epicentre. One four-year old boy was reported to have been killed in Bangladesh as a result of the massive earthquake that caused thousands to die in other parts of Southern Asia. He was traveling in a trawler off the coast of Barisal when the trawler capsized. The boy's brother is still missing.
The earthquake off the coast of Indonesia sent three aftershocks across Bangladesh cracking buildings and surging the water levels of rivers, lakes and ponds. However experts say that the relatively small damage and loss of life was because of Bangladesh's distance from the quake's epicentre.
The biggest of the tremors was recorded at Bangladesh's lone observatory in Chittagong at 7 am and measured 7.36 on the Richter scale and lasted for 42 seconds. It was 1019 kilometres away from the seismic centre. The second tremor was measured almost two hours later at 4.35 on the scale.
It was reported that the family of four-year old boy who died was travelling as tourists. They were with tourists, traveling by trawlers from coastal tour spot to a offshore island. One of the trawlers capsized during the water swells caused by the earthquake. All other passengers were safely rescued. In Dhaka, the water of the Dhanmondi lake surged significantly.
The sleeping students of the hall, which is already under threat of collapse due to lack of maintenance, came running out of their dormitories. The Al-Beruni hall developed some new cracks.
In Chittagong the tremor, the tenth in the city this year - cracked some old buildings and swelled water by 4 to 5 feet in the ponds and other water bodies. A total of 78 earthquakes have been recorded in Chittagong in the last three years
The public library and railway buildings in the port city which already had cracks due to past quakes widened following yesterday's jolt while the streets were suddenly full of panic-stricken people, police and witnesses said.
Met office staffs said that sea became very rough and there was a fear of tidal waves. In many places reported that the quake lasted for six to 30 seconds and surged the water in the rivers, canals and ponds by a few feet.
This type of earthquake occurred in 1734 and created tsunami through out the coastal region of Bangladesh. There is geological evidence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts that tidal waves rose up to 20 feet above the ground level according to Bangladesh Geological Survey. Bangladesh lucky despite the fact that the richter scale record was very high.
Really sorry for those got the problem seriously and died....god will be with you...
best regards
Zahirul Islam
MarineLife Alliance
Holding #16, South Chartha
Comilla 3500
Bangladesh
Email: marinelife_al@yahoo.com, sturcnet@hotmail.com
1122 hrs, Dec 28, 2004; a post on andamanicobar@yahoogroups.co.in; revisiting the tsunami of 2004
Dec 28, 2004
1122 hrs
Dear All,
Last two days being the most devastating experience for people living in the A & N Islands and for us whose whole family is based in the islands and myself sitting in delhi....I was in touch with many people in Port Blair to get the status as my big brother (Mohammed Aslam, a teacher) is till to return from Car Nicobar.
The whole of the people in the islands were in panic situation. The relief work started around 2 pm yesterday and first three four trips of the helicopters brought only women and children and the situation was just unwatchable...my friends told me that the relief team still does not know what to do and what to reply.......4 to 5 villages in Nicobar is completely washed off...people near the headquarter (in Nicobar) seem to be safe...
I was tensed the whole day yesterday after talking to my parents as there was no news from my brother, but late in the evening one lady who returned from Nicobar (injured) said that she has seen my brother and is safe....but he is still to return...
Naval ships are said to be bringing all the people who are there in Nicobar but is still to touch the harbour...it is not confirmed whether they have started from Nicobar or not.....
Another worrying factor is that the relief team has still to think about other islands in the Nicobar group like Campbel Bay. no news from them...islands like Chowra, Teressa, Katchal, Pillomillo would be in a very devastating stage and nothing has been reported yet....one needs a strong heart even to think about the sitation of the people in these islands...
Places like Mayabunder, Diglipur and Rangat were not effected much...the damage was only due to the quake and not due to the behaviour of the sea....my relatives (my sister and my brother's wife) are there in Mayabunder but they are safe and said that nothing much has happended there apart from some cracks in the houses and buildings...
I also want to do something for the relief work in the islands and am approaching the officials to provide a channel and would let the group know if anything positive comes up...
regards (sharbendu...where are u??in delhi)))
anwar ahmed
1122 hrs
Dear All,
Last two days being the most devastating experience for people living in the A & N Islands and for us whose whole family is based in the islands and myself sitting in delhi....I was in touch with many people in Port Blair to get the status as my big brother (Mohammed Aslam, a teacher) is till to return from Car Nicobar.
The whole of the people in the islands were in panic situation. The relief work started around 2 pm yesterday and first three four trips of the helicopters brought only women and children and the situation was just unwatchable...my friends told me that the relief team still does not know what to do and what to reply.......4 to 5 villages in Nicobar is completely washed off...people near the headquarter (in Nicobar) seem to be safe...
I was tensed the whole day yesterday after talking to my parents as there was no news from my brother, but late in the evening one lady who returned from Nicobar (injured) said that she has seen my brother and is safe....but he is still to return...
Naval ships are said to be bringing all the people who are there in Nicobar but is still to touch the harbour...it is not confirmed whether they have started from Nicobar or not.....
Another worrying factor is that the relief team has still to think about other islands in the Nicobar group like Campbel Bay. no news from them...islands like Chowra, Teressa, Katchal, Pillomillo would be in a very devastating stage and nothing has been reported yet....one needs a strong heart even to think about the sitation of the people in these islands...
Places like Mayabunder, Diglipur and Rangat were not effected much...the damage was only due to the quake and not due to the behaviour of the sea....my relatives (my sister and my brother's wife) are there in Mayabunder but they are safe and said that nothing much has happended there apart from some cracks in the houses and buildings...
I also want to do something for the relief work in the islands and am approaching the officials to provide a channel and would let the group know if anything positive comes up...
regards (sharbendu...where are u??in delhi)))
anwar ahmed
December 29, 2014
1615hrs, Dec 27, 2004, a post on andamanicobar@yahoogroups.co.in; revisiting the tsunami of Dec 2004
Dec 27, 2004
1615 hrs
Posted by Madhusree Mukerjee
Subject: SFGate: Warning system doesn't extend to Indian Ocean nations where death toll is highest
This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate.The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...
Sunday, December 26, 2004 (AP)
Warning system doesn't extend to Indian Ocean nations where death toll is highest
JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA, AP Science Writer
(12-26) 21:22 PST (AP)
The catastrophic death toll in Asia caused by a massive tsunami might have been reduced had India and Sri Lanka been part of an international warning system designed to warn coastal communities about potentially deadly waves, scientists say.
More than 8,300 people in India and Sri Lanka were among the more than 13,300 killed after being hit by walls of water triggered by a tremendous earthquake early Sunday off Sumatra. The warning system is designed to alert nations that potentially destructive waves may hit their coastlines within three to 14 hours. Scientists said seismic networks recorded Sunday's massive earthquake, but without wave sensors in the region, there was no way to determine the direction a tsunami would travel.
A single wave station south of the earthquake's epicenter registered tsunami activity less than 2 feet high heading south toward Australia, researchers said. The waves also struck resort beaches on the west coast of the Thailand's south peninsula, killing hundreds. Although Thailand belongs to the international tsunami warning network, its west coast does not have the system's wave sensors mounted on ocean buoys.
The northern tip of the earthquake fault is located near the Andaman Islands, and tsunamis appear to have rushed eastward toward the Thai resort of Phuket on Sunday morning when the community was just stirring. "They had no tidal gauges and they had no warning," said Waverly Person, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., which monitors seismic activity worldwide. "There are no buoys in the Indian Ocean and that's where this tsunami occurred."
The tsunami was triggered by the most powerful earthquake recorded in the past 40 years. The earthquake, whose magnitude was a staggering 9.0, unleashed walls of water more than two stories high to the west across the Bay of Bengal, slamming into coastal communities 1,000 miles away. Hours after the quake, Sumatra was struck by a series of powerful aftershocks. Researchers say the earthquake broke on a fault line deep off the Sumatra coast, running north and south for about 600 miles or as far north as the Andaman and Nicobar islands between India and Mynamar.
"It's a huge rupture," said Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center near Honolulu. "It's conceivable that the sea floor deformed all the way along that rupture, and that's what initiates tsunamis." Tsunamis as large and destructive as Sunday's typically happen only a few times in a century.
A tsunami is not a single wave, but a series of traveling ocean waves generated by geological disturbances near or below the ocean floor. With nothing to stop them, these waves can race across the ocean like the crack of a bullwhip, gaining momentum over thousands of miles. Most are triggered by large earthquakes but they can be caused by landslides, volcanoes and even meteor impacts. The waves are generated when geologic forces displace sea water in the ocean basin. The bigger the earthquake, the more the Earth's crust shifts and the more seawater begins to move.
Most tsunamis occur in the Pacific because the ocean basin is rimmed by the Ring of Fire, a long chain of the Earth's most seismically active spots. Marine geologists recently have determined that under certain conditions, the U.S. East Coast and other heavily populated coastlines also could be vulnerable. In a tsunami, waves typically radiate out in directions opposite from the seismic disturbance. In the case of the Sumatra quake, the seismic fault ran north to south beneath the ocean floor, while the tsunami waves shot out west and east.
Tsunamis are distinguished from normal coastal surf by their great length and speed. A single wave in a tsunami series might be 100 miles long and race across the ocean at 600 mph. When it approaches a coastline, the wave slows dramatically, but it also rises to great heights because the enormous volume of water piles up in shallow coastal bays. And unlike surf, which is generated by wind and the gravitational tug of the moon and other celestial bodies, tsunamis do not break on the coastline every few seconds. Because of their size, it might take an hour
for another one to arrive.
Some tsunamis appear as a tide that doesn't stop rising, while others are turbulent and savagely chew up the coast. Without instrumentation, so little is known about this tsunami that researchers must wait for eyewitness accounts to determine its characteristics. "It was a big tsunami, but it is hard to say exactly how many waves there were or what happened," McCreery said.
In the hours following an earthquake, tsunamis eventually lose their power to friction over the rough ocean bottom or simply as the waves spread out over the ocean's enormous surface. The international warning system was started in 1965, the year after tsunamis associated with a magnitude 9.2 temblor struck Alaska in 1964. It is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Member states include all the major Pacific rim nations in North America, Asia and South America, was well as the Pacific islands, Australia and New Zealand. It also includes France, which has sovereignty over some Pacific islands, and Russia.
However, India and Sri Lanka are not members. "That's because tsunamis are much less frequent in the Indian Ocean," McCreery said. "Unfortunately, we have no equipment here that can warn about tsunamis," said Budi Waluyo, an official with Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. "The instruments are very expensive and we don't have money to buy them." The warning system analyzes earthquake information from several seismic networks, including the U.S. Geological Survey. The seismic information is fed into computer models that "picture" how and where a tsunami might form. It dispatches warnings about imminent tsunami hazards, including predictions how fast the waves are traveling and their expected arrival
times in specific geographic areas.
As the waves rush past tidal stations in the ocean, bulletins updating the tsunami warning are issued. Other models generate "inundation maps" of what areas could be damaged, and what communities might be spared. Not all earthquakes generate tsunamis. The warning center typically does not issue warnings for earthquakes below magnitude 7.0, which are still unusually powerful events.
Associated Press writer Michael Casey contributed to this report.
Copyright 2004 AP
1615 hrs
Posted by Madhusree Mukerjee
Subject: SFGate: Warning system doesn't extend to Indian Ocean nations where death toll is highest
This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate.The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...
Sunday, December 26, 2004 (AP)
Warning system doesn't extend to Indian Ocean nations where death toll is highest
JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA, AP Science Writer
(12-26) 21:22 PST (AP)
The catastrophic death toll in Asia caused by a massive tsunami might have been reduced had India and Sri Lanka been part of an international warning system designed to warn coastal communities about potentially deadly waves, scientists say.
More than 8,300 people in India and Sri Lanka were among the more than 13,300 killed after being hit by walls of water triggered by a tremendous earthquake early Sunday off Sumatra. The warning system is designed to alert nations that potentially destructive waves may hit their coastlines within three to 14 hours. Scientists said seismic networks recorded Sunday's massive earthquake, but without wave sensors in the region, there was no way to determine the direction a tsunami would travel.
A single wave station south of the earthquake's epicenter registered tsunami activity less than 2 feet high heading south toward Australia, researchers said. The waves also struck resort beaches on the west coast of the Thailand's south peninsula, killing hundreds. Although Thailand belongs to the international tsunami warning network, its west coast does not have the system's wave sensors mounted on ocean buoys.
The northern tip of the earthquake fault is located near the Andaman Islands, and tsunamis appear to have rushed eastward toward the Thai resort of Phuket on Sunday morning when the community was just stirring. "They had no tidal gauges and they had no warning," said Waverly Person, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., which monitors seismic activity worldwide. "There are no buoys in the Indian Ocean and that's where this tsunami occurred."
The tsunami was triggered by the most powerful earthquake recorded in the past 40 years. The earthquake, whose magnitude was a staggering 9.0, unleashed walls of water more than two stories high to the west across the Bay of Bengal, slamming into coastal communities 1,000 miles away. Hours after the quake, Sumatra was struck by a series of powerful aftershocks. Researchers say the earthquake broke on a fault line deep off the Sumatra coast, running north and south for about 600 miles or as far north as the Andaman and Nicobar islands between India and Mynamar.
"It's a huge rupture," said Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center near Honolulu. "It's conceivable that the sea floor deformed all the way along that rupture, and that's what initiates tsunamis." Tsunamis as large and destructive as Sunday's typically happen only a few times in a century.
A tsunami is not a single wave, but a series of traveling ocean waves generated by geological disturbances near or below the ocean floor. With nothing to stop them, these waves can race across the ocean like the crack of a bullwhip, gaining momentum over thousands of miles. Most are triggered by large earthquakes but they can be caused by landslides, volcanoes and even meteor impacts. The waves are generated when geologic forces displace sea water in the ocean basin. The bigger the earthquake, the more the Earth's crust shifts and the more seawater begins to move.
Most tsunamis occur in the Pacific because the ocean basin is rimmed by the Ring of Fire, a long chain of the Earth's most seismically active spots. Marine geologists recently have determined that under certain conditions, the U.S. East Coast and other heavily populated coastlines also could be vulnerable. In a tsunami, waves typically radiate out in directions opposite from the seismic disturbance. In the case of the Sumatra quake, the seismic fault ran north to south beneath the ocean floor, while the tsunami waves shot out west and east.
Tsunamis are distinguished from normal coastal surf by their great length and speed. A single wave in a tsunami series might be 100 miles long and race across the ocean at 600 mph. When it approaches a coastline, the wave slows dramatically, but it also rises to great heights because the enormous volume of water piles up in shallow coastal bays. And unlike surf, which is generated by wind and the gravitational tug of the moon and other celestial bodies, tsunamis do not break on the coastline every few seconds. Because of their size, it might take an hour
for another one to arrive.
Some tsunamis appear as a tide that doesn't stop rising, while others are turbulent and savagely chew up the coast. Without instrumentation, so little is known about this tsunami that researchers must wait for eyewitness accounts to determine its characteristics. "It was a big tsunami, but it is hard to say exactly how many waves there were or what happened," McCreery said.
In the hours following an earthquake, tsunamis eventually lose their power to friction over the rough ocean bottom or simply as the waves spread out over the ocean's enormous surface. The international warning system was started in 1965, the year after tsunamis associated with a magnitude 9.2 temblor struck Alaska in 1964. It is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Member states include all the major Pacific rim nations in North America, Asia and South America, was well as the Pacific islands, Australia and New Zealand. It also includes France, which has sovereignty over some Pacific islands, and Russia.
However, India and Sri Lanka are not members. "That's because tsunamis are much less frequent in the Indian Ocean," McCreery said. "Unfortunately, we have no equipment here that can warn about tsunamis," said Budi Waluyo, an official with Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. "The instruments are very expensive and we don't have money to buy them." The warning system analyzes earthquake information from several seismic networks, including the U.S. Geological Survey. The seismic information is fed into computer models that "picture" how and where a tsunami might form. It dispatches warnings about imminent tsunami hazards, including predictions how fast the waves are traveling and their expected arrival
times in specific geographic areas.
As the waves rush past tidal stations in the ocean, bulletins updating the tsunami warning are issued. Other models generate "inundation maps" of what areas could be damaged, and what communities might be spared. Not all earthquakes generate tsunamis. The warning center typically does not issue warnings for earthquakes below magnitude 7.0, which are still unusually powerful events.
Associated Press writer Michael Casey contributed to this report.
Copyright 2004 AP
0758 hrs, Dec 27, 2004; a post on andamanicobar@yahoogroups.co.in - Revisiting the tsunami
Dec 27, 2004
0758 hrs
I find myself angered by the fact that not a single Indian agency issued a tsunami warning. It should have been obvious to any competent geologist that a tsunami was about to follow such a massive oceanic earthquake, and a warning would have saved many people in Sri Lanka and mainland India, if not on the islands. This illustrates the skewed priorities in science funding in India, where bomb makers get the best salaries and facilities while other sciences are neglected. The task of predicting a tsunami would normally fall on the plate of the Geological Survey of India. The GSI has a large presence on the Andaman Islands, where its scientists look for water and oil and pose for pictures on Barren Island. India needs (if it doesn't already have) a research center for earthquakes and tsunamis that is independently funded.
Madhusree Mukerjee
0758 hrs
I find myself angered by the fact that not a single Indian agency issued a tsunami warning. It should have been obvious to any competent geologist that a tsunami was about to follow such a massive oceanic earthquake, and a warning would have saved many people in Sri Lanka and mainland India, if not on the islands. This illustrates the skewed priorities in science funding in India, where bomb makers get the best salaries and facilities while other sciences are neglected. The task of predicting a tsunami would normally fall on the plate of the Geological Survey of India. The GSI has a large presence on the Andaman Islands, where its scientists look for water and oil and pose for pictures on Barren Island. India needs (if it doesn't already have) a research center for earthquakes and tsunamis that is independently funded.
Madhusree Mukerjee
December 28, 2014
0157 hrs, Dec 27, 2004: Post on andamanicobar@yahoogroups.co.in; Revisiting the tsunami of Dec. 2004
Dec 27, 2004
0157 hrs
Hi!
Situation in the Andaman islands seems to be getting under control. In the last couple of hours after relentless hours of frantically trying to get the people over there, I managed to speak to a couple of my friends in Port Blair. Some are fine, some minor damages, my house - devastated. However, the fate of 45,000 Nicobarese and others stands completely unclear. Just five minutes back at 1.00 in the night I spoke to the PA of Mr. Gyanesh Bharati who couldn't forward much concrete information.
The PTI reported "The fate of nearly 45,000 people living in an area stetching from Car Nicobar Island to Greater Nicobar remains unknown as communication links have totally collapsed. The aerodrome has suffered damages and an official in a disaster management NGO informed me that the airport is submerged. Knowing the location and geography of the spot, it is quite unlikely that sea water can run all that way. But, if that has - it's an extremely serious issue.
I am enclosing telephone numbers of some people over there who might be able to provide some more information on the issue:
Control room: 03192 231945
D.C Andaman: 03192 233089
D.C office Nicobar: 03192 265220/265190 (though all communication links have collapsed)
Fingers crossed
Sharbendu De
0157 hrs
Hi!
Situation in the Andaman islands seems to be getting under control. In the last couple of hours after relentless hours of frantically trying to get the people over there, I managed to speak to a couple of my friends in Port Blair. Some are fine, some minor damages, my house - devastated. However, the fate of 45,000 Nicobarese and others stands completely unclear. Just five minutes back at 1.00 in the night I spoke to the PA of Mr. Gyanesh Bharati who couldn't forward much concrete information.
The PTI reported "The fate of nearly 45,000 people living in an area stetching from Car Nicobar Island to Greater Nicobar remains unknown as communication links have totally collapsed. The aerodrome has suffered damages and an official in a disaster management NGO informed me that the airport is submerged. Knowing the location and geography of the spot, it is quite unlikely that sea water can run all that way. But, if that has - it's an extremely serious issue.
I am enclosing telephone numbers of some people over there who might be able to provide some more information on the issue:
Control room: 03192 231945
D.C Andaman: 03192 233089
D.C office Nicobar: 03192 265220/265190 (though all communication links have collapsed)
Fingers crossed
Sharbendu De
