Deepti Asthana

Sharmila Joshi

Editor

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Dhanushkodi is a forlorn place – a remote land,
covered with white sand, bordered by the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean at
the southern tip of India, in Tamil Nadu. It was developed as a small port by the British
around 1914, and eventually became a bustling town with pilgrims, travellers, fish
workers, traders and others. 

Half a century later, in 1964, a massive cyclone that started at midnight on December 22 and went on till the evening of December 25, devastated
the port-town in Rameswaram taluk of Ramanathapuram district. Gigantic waves triggered by the
cyclone flattened the entire town and
killed more than 1,800 people. A train coming from Pamban, some 30
kilometres away, carrying well over a 100 people, was fully submerged. 

After the cyclone, the place was variously called
‘ghost town’ or ‘unfit to live’ and left in a state of total neglect. However,
almost 400 fish worker families (estimates a local panchayat leader), continue
to live in Dhanushkodi and see this barren land as their only home. Some of them
are cyclone survivors who have been living here for over 50 years without
electricity, toilets or even potable water.

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Broken bow: Dhanushkodi's forgotten people

તૂટેલું ધનુષ: ધનુષકોડીના તરછોડાયેલા લોકો

ভগ্ন ধনুঃ ধনুষকোড়িৰ বিস্মৃত লোকসকল

உடைந்த வில்: தனுஷ்கோடியின் மறந்து போன மக்கள்

दुभंगलेलं धनुष्यः धनुष्कोडीची विस्मृतीत गेलेली माणसं

ଭଗ୍ନ ଧନୁ: ଧନୁଶକୋଡ଼ିର ମନେ ନଥିବା ଲୋକମାନେ

ভগ্ন ধনুক: ধনুষকোড়ির বিস্মৃত মানুষেরা

अपने ही देश में उपेक्षित धनुषकोड़ी के निवासी

دھنُش کوڑی کے بھلا دیے گئے لوگ

Dhanushkodi

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Broken bow: Dhanushkodi's forgotten people

Half a century after a massive cyclone turned Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu into a ghost town, 400 fish worker families still live there. Abandoned all these years, they are now seen as obstacles to tourism development

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