Tuesday, January 4 2005 16:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Velankanni: Distributions of money and material have gathered pace as the panchayat administration has streamlined the disbursement of cash and kind.

"We have distributed Rs 4000 cash, 60 kg of rice and three litres of kerosene to around 1000 affected people in this area since yesterday (Jan 3, 2005). We have streamlined the distribution and everything is going fine," an official from the special panchayat office said in Velankanni.

The relief Centre where the aid is being distributed is a beehive of activity as hundreds of people queued up without any confusion to accept the material. Over 1200 people have been affected by the disaster in this coastal area, which has a population of 3,000.

The municipality officials were busy clearing the debris near the coast. Earth moving equipment continue to scoop out broken houses and walls to look for bodies and survivors, and at least one body has come out of the ruins.

"I have nothing left, my house is reduced to rubble, my aluminium utensil stock and jewels are missing," weeps Kasi Amma, a tsunami survivor whose mentally ill daughter and two sons and were undergoing treatment at the local hospital. Kasi Amma is the breadwinner for the family and lost her husband when she was 30.