Even though relief centres in Chennai are being flooded with food from various quarters, people lodged in the camps seem keen on cooking their own food.

They are seeking utensils and fuel for preparing their own meal. This despite the fact that the Chennai Corporation is providing more than two lakh food packets a day to the relief centres. Besides, voluntary agencies are also bringing in food items.

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Also, though there is no dearth of used clothing, the victims are seeking new ones.

However, unlike food and clothing, there is a shortage of daily use articles, including soaps.

Seven medical teams are camping in the affected areas to take care of the needs of the people. The teams have commenced disinfection work.

Meanwhile, a section of the fishing community is facing a problem. The huge quantity of fish netted by the fishermen before tsunami hit Tamil Nadu coasts is yet to be sold.

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Fishermen at Kasimedu said hundreds of kilogrammes of fish have been kept in iceboxes. It can remain in the boxes for another day or two, but after that they will be of no use and will have to be dumped, the fishermen said.

They said people were not buying fish, suspecting that they could be contaminated. City corporation authorities have sent some fishes for testing.

Meanwhile, villagers of Nallavedu, Veerampattinam and Periyakalapet in Pondicherry are thanking the vital phone call from Singapore that helped them to run to safety.

The caller had alerted about 13,000 people of the villages that giant waves would hit the Union Territory.

Nallavedu has a population of about 3,600, while the other two villages have 6,200 and 4,000 people, respectively.

The Chennai-based M S Swaminathan Foundation has set up an information village research project in these villages.