Saturday, January 1 2005 15:10 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Nagapattinam (TN): Caught unawares by the Tsunami strike, an unprepared district administration in Nagapattinam is facing an uphill task in rehabilitating and providing relief to the lakhs of affected people.

Though the district is limping back to normal, chaotic scenes have become the order of the day in over 95 relief centres set up by the administration, with the inmates complaining of lack of drinking water and toilet facilities.

Officials put the toll at 5425, with 600 bodies recovered yesterday (Dec 31, 2004) alone, but still more bodies are believed to be lying under the debris left behind by the surging waves at Velankanni and Nagore.

The figure may cross the 6000 mark, it is feared.

The administration's apparent inability to meet the demands of the affected people is because most of the revenue officials normally expected to be involved in coordinating the relief work at the field level, had reported late for duty because they themselves had become victims.

In some places, village administrative officers said they had to spent money from their pocket to bury or cremate bodies and had quickly run out of funds.

In Vedaranyam taluk yesterday, some VAOs were seen protesting against the threat of suspension by the higher authorities for delay in disposal of retrieved bodies.