Akkaraipettai, India - scenes of destruction

Fishing is the chief source of livelihood in Nagapattinam district. Approximately 80,000 tons of fish are harvested by the district’s fishermen annually and the industry provides employment to nearly half a million people. Akkaraipettai is a fishing village, and fishermen need their boats and nets. The priority is to restore the livelihood of fishermen so they will not be dependent on help.

Between Nagapattinam and Akkaraipettai, some 700 boats were thrown ashore. In Akkaraipettai, 7 km from Nagapattinam, bulldozers, trucks and fire engines are jostling for space between boats that have been pushed on to the road by the tsunami. As dazed fishermen look at their boats and wonder how they got there, officials are wondering how to get them off the streets and into the water. With great difficulty heavy cranes moved boats off the road to make way for fire engines and ambulances.

Fishermen here don’t know how to rebuild their life when their boats are lying on roads near the beach or are wedged between houses. Fishing boats and nets must be repaired to enable Akkaraipettai to survive, but it is unknown how many can be salvaged to make them seaworthy.

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