More than two years ago, on a December 26^th the world witnessed one of the greatest natural disasters in the recent past. On that tragic day, Tsunami waves swept away lives, means, and dreams of thousands and now after its 2^nd anniversary, the wounds are still open.

The affected districts within the state are Kollam, Allapuzha, Eranakulam, and Thrissur. Among these, Kollam was the worst affected. According to the official records, the district had to pay a huge price of 131 human lives, 3000 houses fully damaged (a total of 4055 houses were devastated in the state) and over 10000 houses were partially damaged.

The affected people were the poorest of the poor fishermen tribe who lead a life of subsistancy. Govt and the social help groups had a mammoth task of rehabilitating them providing everything from A to Z. Many Tsunami survivors of the 2nd ward of Azhikal of the Allapad panchayat are still homeless. Here, the distance between the sea and the habitation is a mere 17 mts. Obviously the waves swept it clean leaving no traces behind.

‘Ragalakshmi’ paid Rs. 485/- as the building tax this year also for the shop-cum-home which is no more than a rubble of stone and mud so that her name will remain in the official records and would someday get reservations promised by the govt for the Tsunami survivors. Anand and family are still residing in the rehabilitation camp and have been denied govt help because they owned a small piece of land which disqualifies them from the scheme meant exclusively for the below-poverty-line class (BPL).

The 166 families of ‘Vellathuruthu’ have a different story to say. The construction works here was stopped shortly after the piling works were completed by the Indian Rare Earth (IRE) who claim that the site comes under their jurisdiction. More than 350 families of the ‘Arattupuzha’ are still homeless because the charitable organisation which promised help withdrew with out any reason. The disaster had left the govt with a handful of problems to deal with though the govt could to an extent help the people. Major problems are still lingering due to the bad coordination between departments and lack of interest.

Though the government couldn't do any commendable work, the social help groups did a praise worthy job. Without their help the state never would have been able to heal its wounds. Matha Amirthananthamai Math were the most successful and influential of them all. The organisation built over 1600 houses in the state alone. The construction works were completed in a record speed, the organisation was the first to build a complete Tsunami rehabilitation house in India. The organisation had also successfully completed its ambitious project of completely rebuilding the Allapat panchayat.

Other than the Math, other organisations such as C.P.M, World Vision, Q.S.S, Good Samaritan, Jamatha Islami and many more did a great job which the state will be always proud of.