CHENNAI: Apart from the agony of having lost their loved ones, survivors of the tsunami also say that they feel left out and neglected by the government. “If there is another tsunami, the same thing will happen again. Even after all these years, we don’t feel safe. We feel that the government should do something about our safety,” was the collective response of the survivors, who live in the various fishing hamlets along the Marina, on Monday.Sasi Kumar, the panchayat president of Ayodhya Kuppam, said: “At that time in 2004, the government said that they will build a sea wall, but till today, nothing of that kind has happened.”Kudisai Perumal from Pattinapakkam said, “Only those who have lost their family have received some sort of compensation, But for the rest who lost their boats and houses or were wounded with broken limbs, they were never compensated. In terms of housing, we feel that the government and NGOs have failed to do anything for our people.”Even for those who did get some sort of monetary compensation, with time, the money ran out due to the loss of an earning member in the family. The womenfolk, who had to take up jobs to keep the family going, feel that it would be helpful if the government took care of the education of their children not just at the school level, but also at the college level.As anniversaries come and go, these survivors and victims continue to live their lives through broken promises and dreams.
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