Chennai; The Kerala Government yesterday  (Dec 26, 2006) announced a Rs 1 billion package for areas hit hardest by the tsunami as special prayers and commemorative events were organised for the thousands who were claimed by the killer waves on this day two years ago.

At a public function at Alappad near Kollam, where 140 people were killed by the tsunami of December 26, 2004, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan promised Rs one lakh each for families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

Special prayers, floral tributes and candlelight marches were among the events organised in memory of the dead in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

In Nagapattinam district, which reported most of the over 8,000 deaths in Tamil Nadu, hundreds of people paid tearful homage to their loved ones who were washed away by the killer waves.

Fisherfolk in Colachel area in Kanyakumari district, another area hit hard by the tsunami, congregated on beaches to pray for those swallowed by the waves that crashed into the fishing hamlet the day after Christmas in 2004.

Special pujas were held by women from the Gangaputra fishing community at Visakhapatnam and other coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh to ward off tsunami-like disasters. They thronged the seashore, offered prayers to Gangamma Talli (Goddess Ganga) and broke coconuts as part of the ritual.

The kin of victims in different islands of the Andaman and Nicobar chain too offered special prayers as the administration said every attempt will be made to speedily complete permanent shelters at 70 locations for those left homeless by the disaster.