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'Coast Guard was the first to react'

Sheela Bhatt in Indraprasth
Rediff
December 27, 2004 at 4:45 p.m. IST

Indian Coast Guard Deputy Director General Dr P Paleri is
not as surprised as he is saddened by the destruction
caused by tsunamis that struck the coast of India on
Sunday morning because he had anticipated such an event.

On page 177 of his book 'Role of the Coast Guard in
Maritime Security of India', he has written that India
will have to look out for tsunamis. The book was
published this year.

"While evaluating India's security threats in coastal
areas, I came across some material that described how a
tsunami had devastated Madras, now Chennai, in 1883. The
result then was exactly like that of Sunday's," Dr Paleri
told rediff.com in Delhi.

The Indian Coast Guard was the first organization to
react when tsunamis began to hit the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands. At 6.30am, Indian Coast Guard Regional Command
in Andaman got news of the tsunamis, he told rediff.com.

Andaman's residents were shocked and in trauma. The waves
had struck like electric shocks - quick and powerfully -
wrecking havoc because of the surprise element.

Dr Paleri said that the effect was such that there were
hardly any people alive 'to be air-lifted' on certain
islands.

Without panicking, ICG started relief operations in
Chennai, Port Blair and Mumbai before noon on Sunday.

For the most part of the day, ICG staffers were helping
ferry dead bodies and supply food packets to the marooned
areas.

"Our officers are trained to not make a disaster out of
disaster management. We are composed and perform our
duties in association with the Indian Air Force," he
said.

For the first few hours, the local administration had
lost communication with many of the islands. The IAF's
air strips and other property were badly hit.

To resume communication, two ships were sent out to sea.
They managed to connect the far flung areas of Andaman
and Nicobar Islands to the capital Port Blair with the
help of a high frequency (HF) communication system. Once
communication was established, it became easy to get
details of the damage caused by the tsunamis and carry
out rescue operations.

"It's a pretty bad scene in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
because one more earthquake hit the islands on Sunday
evening," Dr Paleri said.

Around 17 helicopters were pressed into service in
Chennai (capital of Tamil Nadu) and the Andaman Islands.

ICG's officers continue to work heroically to rescue
people in marooned islands of the Indian Ocean
archipelago.

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