Now weather wages war

By N.Dilshath Banu

The little ray of happiness that the internally displaced people (IDPs) were looking forward to with the dawning of the New Year season has been dampened by the torrential rains.

The people of Batticaloa refer to this season as “Siththirai Nerrupu”(New Year Fire) because of the usually prevalent warm weather and outdoor activities associated with the period. In spite of living in refugee camps the displaced people were looking forward to at least partaking of Pongal (milk rice). But now they are being flooded out of their temporary shelters.

The fighting between the security forces and the LTTE since November saw hoards of people fleeing the North of Batticaloa and Trincomalee to government-controlled areas in Batticaloa. Last month, military operations in the West of Batticaloa led to another influx of people, making Batticaloa the district sheltering the largest number of refugees. More than 150,000 people are being sheltered in every possible open space including playgrounds.

Most of these shelters had been put up hurriedly to relocate people from schools and therefore the facilities are minimal. Due to congestion within, most of the men sleep outside the camp. Now adding to these discomforts, come the torrential rains“Since Sunday Batticaloa recorded 175.4mm of rain, the highest ever recorded after 48 years. Many low-lying areas face the threat of floods,” said Suriya Kumar, officer-in-charge of the Batticaloa Weather Observatory.

The Sunday Times learns that most of the IDP camps have been put up in low lying areas due to non-availability of land and most of these areas are now getting flooded.

Batticaloa’s Deputy Provincial Director of Health Services S Sathurumurugan said although there is no imminent risk of the spread of major diseases among the displaced people, their health could be affected due to the cold weather.

“There have been no major cases of disease although we have got reports of isolated cases of Chicken Pox. We have isolated these patients and they are being treated,” he said.

Dr. Sathurumurugan assured that several teams including doctors and officers from various NGOs were conducting mobile clinics in camps to identify any communicable disease and treat them immediately.

Meanwhile Batticaloa GA S.Arumainayaham said measures have been taken to temporarily shift refugees whose camps have beem flooded, to nearby schools.

“In Eruvil and Kalawanchikudi, 425 families were moved last week to schools and if the rain continues, more will be shifted,” Mr. Arumainayaham said.

Giving a breakdown of the refugee-settlements in Batticaloa District he said there were 87 camps with 29 of them in Manmunai North (the town region), 21 in Arayampathi, 16 in Eruvar Pattu, 13 in Kaluwanchikudi, three in Kiran, one in Wellavila and two each in Koralai Pattu North and Valachchenai.

He said Kaluwanchikudi is home to 35,200 displaced people out of which 13,300 have sought refuge in camps and the rest are living with friends and relatives. Batticaloa town shelters 33,950 people and 17,747 of them are staying in camps. Arayampathi has 22,850 IDPs and of them 12,692 are in camps.

The Kaluwanchikudi Divisional Secretary, Arul Rajah said that the construction of semi-permanent tents had been halted due to the rains. “We had taken steps to put up these structures, but because of the rains they have been hampered and the people have been sheltered in schools,” he said adding there was adequate food stocks for two weeks.

With all Divisional Secretaries of Batticaloa District trying to grapple with the problem of relocating the displaced people, education activities have been disrupted due to the shifting of refugees to schools as a temporary measure,

Provincial Director of Education, Mrs. S.Pawalakanthan said that if the IDPs could not move out before the schools reopen for the next term on April 23, temporary sturctures will have to be put up to continue with education activities.

“We have sent proposals to UNICEF and other NGOs, to help us construct temporary schools in case the schools cannot be reopened,” she said.

According to Mrs.Pawalakanthan, 85 schools in three educational zones Pattiruppu, Batticaloa and Kalkudah of Batticaloa District have been closed due to the constant influx of the IDPs.