'Some villages have become part of the seashore'

The geography of the coastal districts of Cuddalore and Nagapattinam will be never the same again.

These two districts in Tamil Nadu bore the brunt of the tsunamis that hit south India. Besides claiming hundreds of lives, they swept away dozens of villages on the coast.

Nagappattinam is the worst affected with the official toll put at 1,420. More than 300 people have died in Cuddalore.

Officials overseeing the relief operations say that at least 50 villages in the coastal areas of Cuddalore-Nagapattinam have been swept away.

• TN, Pondy account for 4,500 dead

"Some villages have gone missing from the map because there is nothing left in those places," Nagapattinam Deputy Collector P Umanath said.

Also Read Nagapattinam turns into burial ground Cricket killed TN's budding Sachins A tribute to Colachel's little Teresas 'I have never seen anything like this'

He said an extensive survey of the affected villages would be undertaken only after rescue and relief operations are completed.

The local Catamaran Fishermen Association is trying to assess the names and number of villages, 'which have simply vanished'.

CFA president Kuppuraj said waves towering more than 10 feet above normal swept through 23 villages in Cuddalore alone. They include Devanampattinam, Thazhanguda, Singarathopu, Sothikuppam, Killai and Pitchavaram. Most of the residents were members of the fishing community.

"How will the poor people who have lost everything go back to these villages? The shape of some of these villages has been changed forever," he said.

• AFS Carnic commander left with only vest, pyjamas, chappal

A team of rescue personnel who toured some of the affected villages in Nagapattinam said that a number of hamlets have become inaccessible.

"There are neither roads leading to nor houses in these villages. Some of them have become part of the seashore. It is shocking," K Ramaraj, one of the rescue workers, told rediff.com.

Small stretches of backwaters have come up in many areas, isolating some villages from the mainland. "The villagers used to live by the sea; now they have become part of the sea," he said.

• How you can help tsunami victims