Frantic relatives and state government authorities heaved a sigh of relief on Monday when the Gujarat State Disaster Management Agency (GSDMA) confirmed the safe return to Port Blair of a group of 15 senior citizens, who had gone on a tour of Andaman and Nicobar Islands on December 17. They were brought to Port Blair from Havelock Islands, on which they were earlier stranded.
According to the GSDMA, this group, so far, was the only one to be recorded missing from the state in the tsunami which hit South India on Sunday. Talking on the confirmed safety of the tourists, GSDMA joint CEO V Thirupuggaz said: ‘‘It has been such a relief for us and their families. This was the only group from Gujarat reported missing till now.’’
According to Devang Shrimali, son of Ramnik Shrimali, it was a tour arranged by his father. Ramnik Shrimali is a 64-year-old retired assistant manager of Punjab National Bank, who had visited the Islands earlier. Earlier, he was engaged in trying to placate the families of the other group members even as he was trying to ascertain the safety of his father.
Dr Vijay Shah, son of Rajnikant and Indira Shah — part of the group — could manage to contact the group finally on Monday at around 4.30 pm. He said he had succeeded only after persisten efforts. ‘‘I could finally manage to talk to my parents late in the evening today.’’ He said a steamer had brought them and other members of the group from the Havelock Island. ‘‘Around 400 odd stranded tourists were bought back by the authorities,’’ he said, very much relieved.
The tourist group is expected to leave the island on December 29. Instead of going to Chennai, as scheduled earlier, they will return to Vadodara from Vishakhapatnam.
Meanwhile in Chennai, it was a clear, faultless, blue sky which had lured 26-year-old Vaibhavi Naik and her two friends to go to the Marina Beach on Sunday morning. All set to appear for an interview in a private firm on Monday, Vaibhavi, a resident of Shahibaug in Ahmedabad, is in Chennai for the past one week.
On Sunday at 7:30 am, Vaibhavi and her friends had gone for a stroll on the beach. ‘‘I saw the waves approach the shores and we all had to run for our lives. I ran towards our car, while there were many elderly persons who did not have a vehicle. They jumped into other people’s cars to rush from the beach,’’ says Vaibhavi over the telephone. She currently lives with her friends and will be leaving for Ahmedabad on Thursday.
‘‘I had an interview today, but everything here has come to a standstill. I am scared to even to move out of the house,’’ says Vaibhavi, who has requested her parents to pick her up from Chennai. She was a horrified witness to the killer waves pulling some young boys playing cricket on the beach.
Recounting the scenario, she said: ‘‘Everybody was shocked and we could not understand anything for a minute till the vendors started screaming.’’
Some were the lucky ones who returned home safely. Among them was businessman Sameer Patel and his bride Deepal. They had gone on their honeymoon to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Their family members had waited all night for them at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel International Airport on Monday.
‘‘I cannot imagine that this could ever happen. We had stayed on an island in the Maldives, which has been worst-affected. It could have killed us,’’ says Sameer.
Vigilance Commissioner Ashok Narayan and his family-members too returned safely to the city on Monday. They had gone on a holiday to Colombo. ‘‘ I saw people running for shelter. The situation was grim but the state government machinery had swung to action,’’ says Narayan.