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Using Gujarat Experience
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TAMIL NADU, INDIA
Asian Development Bank (ADB) assistance to India following last December’s earthquake and tsunami is likely to focus on helping restore livelihoods for fisherfolk and farmers, and rehabilitating and reconstructing infrastructure.
ADB will also help develop disaster prevention and management systems.
The total damage and reconstruction cost for India’s east coast is estimated at $1.2 billion. The damage for the severely affected Andaman and Nicobar islands is still being assessed.
As of early March, ADB was finalizing— with development partners World Bank and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as well as the Indian Government—a detailed needs assessment report.
ADB is also discussing with the Government a $200 million emergency assistance package, including a $100 million grant from its Asian Tsunami Fund.
The tsunami battered 2,260 kilometers (km) of India’s eastern coastline, damaging major roads and bridges and small fishing ports, as well as many houses and other buildings.
Fisherfolk were badly affected by the damage to fishing fleets, ports, and landing areas; farmers lost irrigation systems and fertile land as salt water washed over agricultural land.
The worst-affected state is Tamil Nadu, followed by Kerala, Pondicherry, and Andhra Pradesh.
As of 20 January 2005, the official death toll was 10,749, with 5,640 still missing.
Kunio Senga, Director General of ADB’s South Asia Department, says ADB’s experience in helping India after the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat will be a useful model for the tsunami assistance.
ADB provided a $500 million emergency loan to support the Gujarat State Government’s efforts to reconstruct and restore essential infrastructure.
ADB’s collaboration with the World Bank in Gujarat will also be a useful model. Staff in both organizations, who were engaged in the Gujarat operation, will play a key role in planning and implementing the new tsunami project in India.
The first earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia on 26 December 2004 was followed by one off the coast of Great Nicobar Island 3 hours later. The Andaman region continues to experience earthquakes and aftershocks.
The Government of India handled the relief effort largely without outside help, but is seeking assistance for the longerterm rehabilitation and reconstruction effort.
The economic impact is severe at the local level but minimal at the national level, requiring only additional public expenditure on relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction.
The port city of Chennai in southeast India was hit, but the city’s industrial and port infrastructure were not affected. The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to waive interest penalties for default of current dues and defer compounding of interest for borrowers for tsunami-relief measures in affected areas.
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has lowered its refinancing rate to 4.25% from 7% for banks that provide loans to fisherfolk.
"We conveyed to the Government of India our determination to ensure a fully coordinated and integrated response from the multilateral agencies"
Following a government request that ADB and the World Bank coordinate closely on tsunami assistance, the country directors of both banks undertook a reconnaissance mission to Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry in January.
“We conveyed to the Government of India our determination to ensure a fully coordinated and integrated response from the multilateral agencies,” says Mr. Senga.
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