Rain is a nightmare for dwellers in Nagapattinam’s tsunami quarters

K. Sowmiya, a resident in Ambedkar Nagar in Nagore, stands in her house which is severely damaged. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Built as a part of tsunami rehabilitation post 2004, many of these 6,000-odd houses in Nagapattinam district have now become unsafe. Nearly half of them reportedly in poor condition, residents fear for their safety every time it rains.

Last week, an elderly couple at Akkaraipettai fishing village — Soundarrajan and his wife Vasanthi — narrowly escaped when a portion of the roof of their house collapsed while they were trying to catch a nap at night. They were rushed to the Government Medical College Hospital with serious injuries but survived.

The is not an isolated incident. In October last year, in Ambedkar Nagar area in Nagore, Vinothini N., a woman with disability, was having dinner with her two children when a part of their roof gave way. Fortunately, they ran out in time. In a similar incident in New Nambiyar Nagar in November, Rajathiyammal had a providential escape when the roof of her house collapsed.

Not all were as lucky. In 2024, a two-year-old child, V. Yaasindaram, died in roof collapse at the tsunami house at Sellur village.

“There are around 9,000 tsunami houses in Nagapattinam, out of which 6,000 are damaged, and among them, 3,000 have been recorded as severely damaged,” a senior district official confirmed to The Hindu. Built after the 2004 disaster by various NGOs, these houses were meant to be safe shelters for those, mostly fisherfolk and dalits, displaced by the calamity.

Nagapattinam MLA J. Mohamed Shanavas had raised the matter in the State Assembly. “We have been pressuring the government for rehabilitation, but a long-term solution is overdue,” he told The Hindu.

The deteriorating condition of these houses was stark. “The back portion of my house has collapsed multiple times,” says M. Saranya of Ambedkar Nagar in Nagore. With seven family members under one crumbling roof, she dreads rain. Her husband drives an autorickshaw and she works as a domestic assistant to make both ends meet. In Ambedkar Nagar alone, around 190 houses are said to be in critically damaged condition.

R. Uma of New Nambiyar Nagar says her house is not fit for habitation. “It is impossible to raise children in this state,” she says.

K. Kavitha from Sellur needs ₹10,000 for patchwork but both she and her husband work as daily wage earners at the harbour and cannot afford it.

Activist Prakash K. of the Periyar Ambedkar Study Centre in Nagore says the problem began right from the beginning. “After 2004, two NGOs took up construction but it was done poorly. We’ve submitted petitions several times over the years. These homes are not safe — they can’t withstand a season of rain.”

“Each year, we witness fresh accidents. This cannot continue,” said K. Venkadesan, town secretary of the CPI(M). “New homes must be built for the worst-affected. For minor repairs, interest-free loans should be extended.”

A senior district official said that work had begun on providing new homes or repair support in rural pockets utilising existing housing schemes. “However, about 1,500 urban houses are still under severe distress. We’re monitoring the situation and trying to find a viable solution.”

Published - June 17, 2025 08:37 pm IST