Champoor uprooted Tamil families live in fear due to continuous rain

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 December 2011, 12:49 GMT]
Uprooted 1,486 Tamil families forced to stay by the Colombo authority in structures called temporary welfare centres at Mallikaith-theevu, Paddith-thidal, Ma'nat-cheanai and Kaddai-pa'richchaan in Moothoor DS division without being allowed to resettle in their traditional villages in Champoor area are facing untold suffering due to the incessant rain with gale now being experienced in the Trincomalee district for about one week.

Of the 1,486 Tamil families 338 families from Champoor east GN division, 398 from Champoor west GN division, 114 from Navaratnapuram, 97 from Koonith-theevu GN division, 95 from Choodaik-kudaa, 276 families from Kadatkaraich-chenai and 168 from Champoor Kazhi are staying in temporary structures built with poles and wooden planks and tin roof sheets since they returned from Batticaloa refugee camps for resettlement in their villages.

They first fled from their villages to Batticaloa seeking refuge there when the Sri Lanka Army launched military offensive to capture Champoor area in April 2006.

However, after the war ended in Trincomalee, Colombo refused to allow the civilians to return to their houses and paddy fields under the pretext of the declaration of the Champoor area as High Security Zone.

Now, they are being held back in temporary structures stating that a coal power plant is to come up in the Champoor area as a joint project by the Governments of India and Sri Lanka. Their residential areas and paddy fields remain occupied by the Indian coal power plant project.

The people of the soil live in fear if the rain continues for another few days developing into a storm could uproot their temporary structures. It is reported most of the wooden structures of temporary centres are in the verge of collapse due to damages caused by rain water.