Thousands of Tsunami refugees stranded in rains

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 April 2005, 19:19 GMT]
Thousands of tents in which Tamil and Muslim Tsunami refugees are sheltered in the Batticaloa-Amparai districts were flooded following non-seasonal rains in the region Sunday. Tsunami refugees in several camps on the eastern and southeastern coast said that they have no place to sleep tonight because of the rains. “The tent floors are wet or flooded. Mats and sheets on which refugee children sleep have got soggy with the unexpected rains”, said Mr. A. K Thavarajah, Divisional Secretary for Thirukkovil, speaking about the situation in Mandaanai, the largest Tsunami refugee camp in the Amparai district.

Meteorological Department officials in Batticaloa told TamilNet that 80.8 mm rain fall has been recorded in the region from 1 a.m. in the early hours of Sunday to 9 p.m.

Hundreds of Tsunami refugees sheltered in the rice storage buildings of the now defunct Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) in Batticaloa town are suffering as the roofs of the dilapidated structures are leaking heavily, according to the TamilNet correspondent in the eastern town.

Worst affected are Tsunami refugees sheltered on the public grounds in Kaluwanchikudy, 25 kilometres south of Batticaloa. The grounds are flooded with the rain water which has entered the tents.

“The people have no where to go if the rains continue. The Sri Lankan government has no plan to face this situation. They will have nowhere to go except schools and temples if the rains continue as the meteorological department has predicted today”, said Mr. Pakkiyaselvam Ariyanethiran, Tamil National Alliance MP for Batticaloa.