Tuesday, January 11 2005 15:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Port Blair: What began in Port Blair as a multi-nation effort to put the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on the ham radio map of the world just days before the tsunami, has ended up uniting thousands of families across the devastated archipelago before bidding them goodbye today (Jan 11, 2005).

Attending over 40,000 emergency calls since the tragedy struck, the team led by Bharti Prasad, who came to Port Blair on December 15 to network ham radio operators across nations, has brought together thousands of people carried away from their kin by the waves.

They have donned headsets and scoured airwaves for over a fortnight to make mother meet child and husband meet wife. But the Good Samaritans would leave the Island now that the telecommunication network has been restored.

But not before they add another moving humane gesture to their already brimming cup. The Hyderabad-based computer engineer Sarath Babu, one of the five co-volunteers of the team, has donated blood to a 23-year old woman admitted to a hospital.

''I have not even met her. I have given her blood as she needed the 'A positive' group in an emergency. This is just one of the many anonymous services our team has rendered,'' Babu said.

The team got the foothold after the local administration allowed ham operators to enter the island lifting a ban on them since 1987. Amateur stations across the world wanted a footprint in the beautiful and rather inaccessible Island.

''This was no longer just a passion for ham operators after the tsunami struck. It was a big responsibility,'' Bharti, who left Port Blair a few days back following ill health, had said.

Linking 131 countries on a radio band in the frequency range of 3-30 mega hertz, the ham operations were flooded with messages, which they relayed on local telephone lines.

Survivors, victims and stranded people were traced on war footing while teams of doctors were informed of healthcare requirements in marooned areas of the Island.

A voice from Indonesia had described during one of the heavy traffic days that Bharti and her group were the real 'angels of the sea', working relentlessly in the remote Island battered by the waves.