Tsunami update - Jan 17-

[Guest guest]

TSUNAMI UPDATE - JAN 17, 2005

 

From S. Chinny Krishna

Blue Cross of India and

WSPA India Disaster Relief Coordinator

 

I returned from Nagapattinam late Saturday night. Accompanied by Dr. John

Gripper from WSPA London and Dr. Sara Winikoff of AVAR, USA, we left Chennai

Friday morning and drove along the coast right down to Velankanni, 15 kms south

of Nagapattinam.

 

All of us were aware that the Karuna team led by Clementien Pauws and the Blue

Cross staff and volunteers were putting up with a great deal of discomfort but I

was quite unprepared for what we saw. Clementien, Harikrishna (President of the

Ananthapur SPCA) and our staff were slleping, cooking and eating in a

dilapidated relic of a shed. The 100 year old building that housed the local

Animal Husbandary Hospital had a few rooms where the fodder and cattle feed was

being stored. Mosquitoes swarmed around us.

 

The team shared their accomodations with several rescued animals - most of them

with injuries - a dog with distemper and with a beautiful, friendly mother dog

which had littered a few days earlier. The photograph shows a kitten playing

with the mother dog while she fed her pups.

 

After a very late dinner at Velankanni, we got off to an early start on

Saturday. I visited the beautiful shrine of our Lady of Health at Velankanni and

walked down to the beach where several thousand humans had perished on the 26th

of December. It was hard to believe it was just 20 days ago.

 

After breakfast at 7.30, John, Sara and I returned to the " Clinic " at

Nagapattinam. While Sara went about treating several of the animals rescued

earlier, Dr. Gripper and I went to meet Dr. J. Radhakrishnan who had taken over

as Collector of Nagapattinam two days earlier and who had told Mr. Raghavan -

our Nagapattinam co-ordinator - that he would like to meet us. We spent well

over an hour with the Collector, punctuated with many, many telephone calls.

During the meeting, Mr. Vivek Harinarayanan, IT Secretary who was also serving

as the Relief Commissioner came in. The officials promised us their full

co-operation in all our relief efforts.

 

We then visited the cattle rescue centre next to the collectorate in the ITI

campus, one of seven such camps set up by the AHD. The Collector had requested

us to appoint staff to look after these centres and take care of the feeding.

During the meeting, I had mentioned that the Secretary of the Nagapattinam SPCA,

Mr. Dhanapal, was an animal welfare officer of the AWBI but due to some

misunderstanding, had been told by the previous Collector not to be involved in

the animal rescue work. The new Collector immediately authorised that Mr.

Dhanapal be permitted to work with us.

 

Dr. Gripper and I next visited the SPCA building, which had obviously not been

used for a long time. Mr. Dhanapal agreed that this could, if and when

required, serve as a storage place or centre for medium term and long term

relief work.

 

In the meantime, the regular routine of feeding of the dogs and cattle and goats

in the affected areas is going on and will go on as it is till the end of

January.

 

Dr. Musthaq Ali, Assistant Director of AH, Cuddalore has confirmed that the 21

cattle rescued from MGR Thittu, the island off Cuddalore, were safe.

 

Clementien returned to Puttaparthi at midnight Sun/Mon with Harikrishnan and her

team. She takes with her the mother dog and pups; one dog that needs surgery

that could not be done in Nagapattinam; one kitten and two pups, one with a

deformed leg which needs amputation. We know we could not have as much as we

have done without her help, committment and dedication.

 

On our way back to Chennai, we met with Dr. Prabhakaran and his team from

Wildlife SOS at Cuddalore. They are looking after the animals in several vilages

around Cuddalore.

 

Sara returned to the US on Sunday morning. We are indeed grateful to Sara, AVAR

and to United Animal Nations for their most generous help and assistance.

 

John Gripper will be in Chennai till early morning Friday Jan 21 and could be

contacted by e-mail at this id till late Thursday night.

 

S. Chinny Krishna