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II. Background: The impact of the tsunami

The December 2004 tsunami struck nearly 2,260 kilometers of the mainland coastline of India, as well as the Andaman and Nicobar islands.1 Tidal waves as high as ten meters penetrated inland up to three kilometers.2 At least 10,273 people were killed in India.3 Another 5,823 are missing, most of them from the Andaman and Nicobar islands: all are feared dead.4 Among the casualties in India, at least 8,010 were killed in the state of Tamil Nadu.5 The other deaths were reported from Andhra Pradesh (105), Andaman and Nicobar islands (1,755), Pondicherry (591) and Kerala (171).6 At least 647,556 persons were displaced and moved to emergency shelters.7

Over 2.7 million people in India were affected by the tsunami in five states and Union Territories.8 The total financial loss is estimated at over U.S.$1.8 billion and will rise once a detailed damage assessment for Andaman and Nicobar is completed.9 According to early estimates by the Indian government, over 230,000 homes were damaged in 1,089 affected villages, more than 35,000 livestock lost, nearly 22,000 hectares of cropped area damaged, and over 83,000 fishing boats damaged or lost.10 There was extensive damage to infrastructure including roads, jetties, bridges, hospital, schools, electricity and water supplies.

Coastal communities of fishermen bore the brunt of the disaster, both in terms of the immediate impact of the waves, and in terms of loss of livelihood. Some 70-80 percent of the dead on the Indian mainland were from such communities. According to the government, at least 150,000 marine fishing families lost their livelihood in Tamil Nadu.11

Different caste groups engage in fishing-related activity— Meenavars, who consider themselves to be of a higher caste than both members of local tribes, and the Dalits (so-called untouchables).12 They live in a hierarchical relationship and while there is some economic and social interaction, their lives are mostly segregated. Members of the Meenavar community are those who take boats out to sea; Dalits work as manual laborers to move, clean and sort the catch; clean the boats; pack for fish traders; and sometimes sell fish. Some Dalits and tribals also engage in inland fishing along creeks or deltas.

Since the Meenavars live closest to the sea, they suffered the heaviest losses in the tsunami whether measured in terms of loss of life, damage to livelihood, or destruction of homes.

Also affected were farmers, many of them wage laborers or tenants. The standing crop was destroyed in the tsunami just before harvest, leading to loss of livelihood. Farmers say that it will take several years for the land to recover because the surging sea has turned the soil brackish.

In addition to those directly harmed by the tsunami, hundreds of thousands of others–– craftsmen, laborers, traders, barbers, tailors, fishnet menders, boat repairmen, fuel suppliers, and others who provide commercial services to the fishing communities––were indirectly affected because their livelihoods were somehow connected to the economic activity of the fishing industry.

As one local academic told Human Rights Watch: “I would say that the economy of this region depends upon [the fishermen]. If they don’t catch fish, how will they buy things? How then will all these traders survive?”13

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

This group of islands, populated by indigenous peoples, some of whom have had little contact with the outside world, are located in the Bay of Bengal, about 1,200 kilometers from the east coast of mainland India. Of thirty-seven inhabited islands, the tsunami and the resulting coastal flooding affected fifteen, thirteen of them in Nicobar. Nearly 300,000 people were affected and seven islands had to be completely evacuated.14

The airport in the capital, Port Blair, was quickly repaired to provide aerial delivery of relief materials and for emergency evacuation.15 The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was active in some islands to provide water and sanitation while the World Health Organization (WHO) was active in providing health supplies. Over sixty NGOs including Oxfam, Save the Children, Action Aid, Voluntary Health Association of India or Child Line Foundation are helping with rehabilitation efforts.16 On some islands, however, the Indian government has not allowed foreign and international agencies and NGOs to operate because they are militarily sensitive or because the tribal communities living in these areas have had and wish to have little interaction with the outside world.17 The government has been solely responsible for relief, recovery and rehabilitation in those areas.18

Human Rights Watch did not conduct any direct research on conditions in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, but others have reported that relief operations were slow to get started and that it took several days before emergency relief was delivered to people stranded there.19

At this writing, the government had nearly completed the process of setting up 10,000 intermediate shelters for families still living in relief camps.20 In the future, the government intends to build planned villages with health centers, playgrounds, and other such facilities.21 Employment generation schemes have been started and compensations for deaths and losses are being distributed.22 However, there is fear that people might be forcibly displaced from their original habitat to make way for tourist resorts. There have also been recent reports that little compensation is being distributed in the ravaged islands. A BBC reporter, for instance, found that one woman had received just two rupees, less than five US cents, as compensation for her destroyed coconut trees.23 However, the government, after an enquiry into this case, said that the victim had received full and fair compensation and that the check cited in the BBC report was an additional payment after a reassessment of her loss.24


[1] Tsunami Impact, Situation Report, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. January 18, 2005 [online], http://ndmindia.nic.in/Tsunami2004/sitrep35.htm (retrieved February 9, 2005).

[2] World Health Organization, India Weekly Tsunami Report, February 3, 2005 [online], http://w3.whosea.org/en/section23/section 1108/section1835/section1851/section1866_8701.htm (retrieved February 9, 2005).

[3] Statement made by Home Minister Shivraj Patil in Parliament regarding relief and rehabilitation of tsunami affected people, March 10, 2005 [online], mha.nic.in/press-release/pr100305b.pdf (retrieved April 10, 2005)

[4] Ibid. Also see the official website for information on the tsunami, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India [online], http://ndmindia.nic.in/Tsunami2004/sitrep35.htm (retrieved February 9, 2004).

[5] Government of Tamil Nadu as of February 9, 2005 [online], http://www.tn.gov.in/tsunami/damages.htm (retrieved February 9, 2005).

[6] Recovery Framework in Support of Government of India for a Post-Tsunami Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program, United Nations Country Team, India, March 2005 [online], http://www.undp.org.in/dmweb/Tsunami/default.htm (retrieved April 1, 2005).

[7] Tsunami: India Situation Update, World Health Organization, March 3, 2004 [online], http://w3.whosea.org/EN/Section23/Section1108/Section1835/Section1851/Section1866_8857.htm (retrieved April 11, 2005).Many have since returned to their homes. Others, whose houses were damaged or destroyed, have been provided with temporary shelters.

[8] Tsunami impact situation report, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. January 18, 2005 [online], http://ndmindia.nic.in/Tsunami2004/sitrep35.htm (retrieved February 9, 2005).

[9] Recovery Framework in Support of Government of India for a Post-Tsunami Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program, United Nations Country Team, India, March 2005. Also see World Health Organization, India Weekly Tsunami Report, February 3, 2005 [online], http://w3.whosea.org/EN/Section23/Section1108/Section1835/Section1851/Section1866_8857.htm (retrieved March 11, 2005).

[10] Statement made by Home Minister Shivraj Patil in Parliament regarding relief and rehabilitation of tsunami affected People, March 10, 2005. See online mha.nic.in/press-release/pr100305b.pdf. Also see Oxfam, Situation Update, South India and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, January 26, 2005 [online], www.oxfam.org.uk (retrieved February 9, 2005) and Tsunami, India Situation Update, World Health Organization, March 3, 2005.

[11] Government of Tamil Nadu, Government Order Dated January 5, 2005 [online], http://www.tn.gov.in/tsunami/gorders/rev-e-8-2005.htm (retrieved February 1, 2005).

[12] The term Dalit literally means broken or oppressed people and is a term employed by rights activists to refer to those belonging to the “untouchable” caste. See Human Rights Watch, Broken People: Caste Violence Against India’s “Untouchables” (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1999).

[13] Human Rights Watch interview with R. Kaladharan, Nagapattinam, January 28, 2005.

[14] Recovery Framework in Support of Government of India for a Post-Tsunami Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program, March 2005, United Nations Country Team, India.

[15] For details of government efforts in Andaman & Nicobar see the official website [online], http://www.and.nic.in/hcarnic.htm (retrieved February 15, 2005).

[16] List of NGOs/Agencies Who Have Undertaken Relief Works in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Government of Andaman and Nicobar [online], http://tsunamiandaman.tn.nic.in/allngos.htm (retrieved May 6, 2005).

[17] “Foreign NGOs Seek Andamans Access,” BBC News Online, January 3, 2005 [online], http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4142539.stm (retrieved May 6, 2005). Some tribal communities living in these islands have long resisted any interference from the outside world, and in some cases, have even attacked strangers. A helicopter dropping relief supplies, for instance, was attacked with bows and arrows. See BBC News Online, “Tribe Shoots Arrows At Aid Flight,” January 4, 2005 [online], http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4144405.stm (retrieved May 6, 2005).

[18] Janaki Kremmer, “No Easy Access for Remote Islands, The Christian Science Monitor, January 4, 2005 [online], http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0104/p06s01-wosc.html (retrieved May 6, 2005).

[19] See statement by Asian Human Rights Commission, India, Stop Discriminatory relief Operations to Victims, January 10, 2005 [online], http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2005statements/250/.

[20] On February 17, 2005, a month-and-half after the tsunami, the government of India approved a $180 million dollar relief and rehabilitation package to build temporary shelters, restore infrastructure and revive agriculture. For details of relief and compensation policies see Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Package for Tsunami Affected Areas, Government of Andaman and Nicobar [online], http://tsunamiandaman.tn.nic.in/REHABILITATION%20PACKAGE.htm (retrieved May 6, 2005).

[21] Government of India report. [online], http://www.and.nic.in/hcarnic.htm (retrieved February 15, 2005).

[22] For details of relief and rehabilitation measures see reports from the Government of Andaman and Nicobar, [online], http://tsunamiandaman.tn.nic.in/.

[23] Subir Bhaumik, “Anger Over Two Rupee Tsunami Aid,” BBC News Online, April 28, 2005 [online], http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4492695.stm (retrieved May 6, 2005). Also see Justin Huggler, “India gives survivors of tsunami 2p in compensation,” The Independent, May 1, 2005 [online], http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=634666 (retrieved May 6, 2005).

[24] The government of Andaman and Nicobar later denied the reports. In the particular case cited by BBC, the government said that the victim had been compensated for loss of household articles and given cash relief. She was also paid the full amount in compensation for the loss of her coconut trees and based on a later recalculation, she was given an additional two rupees. See Administration Clarifies News Reports, May 1, 2005 [online], http://tsunamiandaman.tn.nic.in/sunday0105.htm (retrieved May 6, 2005).


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