1500 Tsunami hit passengers stranded in Vizag Port

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, July 15: There is huge turnout to Andaman after Tsunami, three ships in three months were not enough to carry these passengers. Still 1,500 from north coastal Andhra districts of Visakapatnam, Vizianagaram, East and West Godavari and Srikakulam were left out. About 400 government employees and hundreds of school children were eagerly waiting to be put on a ship. Gilleswari a fourth standard student at Andaman, who was promoted to class five is eagerly waiting, for the past 24 days to step into her new class but she could not make it as the ship which can take her to the destination has not yet arrived. She is studying in a government school at Andaman. It is the case with the other 175 school children who came to Andhra to visit their hometowns. They had to wait at the Passenger’s Rest House at Visakhapatnam port area. These 1,500 passengers of which 800 women and 700 men had set up a small world here at the passengers rest house by cooking, cleaning and sleeping at the rest house for the past 24 days.``We came back to settle here but it is difficult to earn a living here. Hence we decided to go back, said K Tata Rao who had been living in Andamans since his childhood.This is first time passengers in such a large number had to wait for a long time. All the present passengers were settlers at Andaman who came back to their hometowns at Andhra Pradesh. Some passengers told that they decided to stay back in Andhra while returning from Andaman at the time of tsunami. But they could not do that as they could not sustain here. They are waiting for a ship to sail them to Andaman. Out of these 1,500, 400 work for the government as mazdoors and some petty jobs.``I could not live in Anakapalle my home town. Let thousands of Tsunamis come, I will not leave Andamans,'' said P Koteswara rao, a government contractor.As a practice the Shipping Corporation of India conduct trips once in three months. However this time they had to run three ships in three months still 1,500 passengers were left out.Now authorities are saying that they can not run a ship immediately as two ships were in repair and they are uncertain when will they get rectified.Shipping Corporation runs mv Akbar, mv Harshavardhan, mv Nan Koury, mv Nicobar and mv Swarajdeep ships to Andaman. Out of these Akbar was sailed to Andaman on May 29 carrying 2,000 passengers and was docked there, as it required some repairs. Harshavardhana sailed on June 1 and carried 900 passengers and Nicobar on July 7 which carried 1,200 passengers. Now these 1,500 passengers had sent a representation to the government of Andaman to arrange a ship for them. According to sources Nan Koury ship that was docked here will be sent to Chennai and the passengers here are planning to stop that ship from going to Chennai. Instead they want to the ship to sail to Andaman.``We cannot sail a ship till August 20 as two ships are under repair,'' said shipping agents A V Bhanoji Row and Garuda Pattabhiramaiah and company. Passengers said that they were stranded here and neither can they go to their home towns nor to Andaman.