Sunday, October 02, 2005
Defence forces to commemorate one year of tsunami tragedy
Port Blair: Indian defence forces have planed to commemorate the tsunami tragedy by installing a statue in Car Nicobar Airforce base of Nicobar, which had suffered the brunt of the catastrophe.
The simple memorial which will be installed exactly a year after the tsunami tragedy would have an Airforce eagle at the top, facing the sea, from where deadly waves had appeared on the tsunami day killing 3,513 people and leaving more than 40,000 homeless in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
" The statue would be a symbol of the spirit with which the base was raised again after tsunami within no time," Lt General Aditya Singh, the Commander in Chief of Andaman and Nicobar Command said.
Nicobar Airforce base, situated at Car Nicobar islands, was badly hit by the giant waves which killed 176 defence personnel and their family members.
Those who survived were immediately evacuated, given a month's leave and subsequently transferred to other stations.
The base was no longer deemed a family station and new officers and men were sent to replace, rebuild and carry out relief operation.
Airforce officers were airborne in helicopters within half-an-hour after the disaster, saving people who were washed away by the mighty waves, inspite of the fact that many of these officers had lost their own family members on the day.
Lt General Singh said the statue, which looks like Cleopatra's needle, would be at least 25 feel tall.
" This is because we wanted to make the memorial taller than the tallest wave of tsunami," he said.
Chief of Army, Airforce and Naval Staff are expected to be present during the solemn function, which would be organized to commemorate the first anniversary of tsunami tragedy.
Before tsunami the Air Base had a huge infrastructure with around 700 staff and personnel living there with their families. It had two schools, VIP guest houses for the air chief marshal and other visiting dignitaries, a shopping complex and homes for the station commander, officers and air men.
The base was taken over by the Indian Air Force in 1956.
Meanwhile, the administration is also planning to organize programme for solemn commemoration of the disaster, which had changed the islands forever.
"There would be a simple programme to commemorate the one year of the tragedy," Chetan B Sanghi the Secretary of Andaman’s Information Tourism and Publicity Department said.
The simple memorial which will be installed exactly a year after the tsunami tragedy would have an Airforce eagle at the top, facing the sea, from where deadly waves had appeared on the tsunami day killing 3,513 people and leaving more than 40,000 homeless in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
" The statue would be a symbol of the spirit with which the base was raised again after tsunami within no time," Lt General Aditya Singh, the Commander in Chief of Andaman and Nicobar Command said.
Nicobar Airforce base, situated at Car Nicobar islands, was badly hit by the giant waves which killed 176 defence personnel and their family members.
Those who survived were immediately evacuated, given a month's leave and subsequently transferred to other stations.
The base was no longer deemed a family station and new officers and men were sent to replace, rebuild and carry out relief operation.
Airforce officers were airborne in helicopters within half-an-hour after the disaster, saving people who were washed away by the mighty waves, inspite of the fact that many of these officers had lost their own family members on the day.
Lt General Singh said the statue, which looks like Cleopatra's needle, would be at least 25 feel tall.
" This is because we wanted to make the memorial taller than the tallest wave of tsunami," he said.
Chief of Army, Airforce and Naval Staff are expected to be present during the solemn function, which would be organized to commemorate the first anniversary of tsunami tragedy.
Before tsunami the Air Base had a huge infrastructure with around 700 staff and personnel living there with their families. It had two schools, VIP guest houses for the air chief marshal and other visiting dignitaries, a shopping complex and homes for the station commander, officers and air men.
The base was taken over by the Indian Air Force in 1956.
Meanwhile, the administration is also planning to organize programme for solemn commemoration of the disaster, which had changed the islands forever.
"There would be a simple programme to commemorate the one year of the tragedy," Chetan B Sanghi the Secretary of Andaman’s Information Tourism and Publicity Department said.
