M A I N   N E W S

307 evacuated from Campbell Bay
Coast Guard saves 4 Indonesians
Sridhar K Chari
Tribune News Service

ON-board ICGS Vivek, berthed at Port Blair, January 3
Four Indonesian fishermen from Sabang, Sumatra, stranded at sea on a small boat for over seven days were rescued by a Coast Guard ship, ICGS Vivek, on January 2 and brought to Port Blair today. The ship also delivered 88 evacuees from Campbell Bay, including 66 men, 15 women, 10 children and one infant, evacuated from there yesterday.

The Relief Commander Lt-General B.S. Thakur, stated that 307 persons were evacuated today from Campbell Bay. Five ships are currently supporting relief operations there, including two with helicopters. Most of the evacuations were by air, with a Sea King and a Chetak. As many as 40 personnel wished to stay there as they had homes there, and an additional 250 would be evacuated tomorrow, he added. Supplies and food packets had been dropped, and partial power restored in the area. STD lines were also now working, and six doctors had been stationed there.

Commandant Ali Muttaher said the Indonesians’ engine had failed and they were adrift. They had put up a piece of cloth as a sail, and had gone without food and water for several days. One of them had a leg fracture, and another’s face was severely sunburned.

The ICGS Vivek was in fact the first ship to reach Campbell Bay and Indira Point, he said. The ship had been in the North Andamans, near Diglipur, when the waves struck. After rescuing four policemen marooned on a small island, it headed back and set sail down south. Some supplies were distributed on the way, at islands like Chowra. “We gave them half a tonne of water, and evacuated 25 injured persons. About 600 persons there said they were O.K, and we could move on.”

Another Coast Guard ship, the ICGS Kamaklata Bama was already there when the tsunami had struck. Luckily, it had just moved off shore, and felt only a vibration when the mountain of moving water passed under her (tsunami waves pick up only near the shore).

General Thakur said in Car Nicobar, the first ship at the newly repaired Mus jetty docked today, and its supplies were received by the village captain there. Three sniffer dogs had also been deployed in the island to ferret out bodies under rubble.

Three camps housing 1380 persons had been put up in Kamorta island in the Nancowrie group. Five camps had been established at Katchal housing 3828 persons, with only a small number needing evacuation because of injury. (The population of Katchal is 8512 according to the 2001 census, though the local administration’s population estimation varies, starting from a figure as low as 5072).

In Teressa, four camps had been established with 850 persons, which would go up when 1290 persons from Chowra (where drinkable water has now run out) were transferred there.

The Director-General of Health Services, Ministry of Health, Dr S.P. Agarwal, who is visiting the island, said there appeared to be no danger of any epidemics breaking out, and on his visits to camps, had imparted advice about maintaining hygiene and water purification with adequate chlorine.

A CII delegation visited here and had a conference with the local administration, in order to decide on what support Indian industry could provide. This would be decided upon soon, General Thakur stated.