Akkaraipettai's playground: From tsunami burial site to a place of hope

CHENNAI: On weekend mornings, the playground by the sea at Akkaraipettai comes alive with ‘howzats’ that struggle to be heard above the incessant sound of the crashing waves and gusts from the sea.

The sandy beach, the frothy shoreline and the azure skyline make it a beautiful sight. Beneath the player’s feet, lay some 600 human skeletons.

This 100m x 100m ground served as a mass burial ground for the victims of the 2004 tsunami that killed around 1,800 people of Akkaraipettai pan chayat in Nagapattinam district.

Among the dead were scores of children who were playing on the beach. In the depression that followed the disaster, it was easy for Akkaraipettai’s youngsters to drown in liquor and drugs. Now, the playground that came up three years ago keeps them on the right track.

Villagers remember that dreadful morning 20 years ago. “When the water receded, there were bodies all over. Once the burial ground in the village was full, and when the bodies started rotting, we dug pits on this ground to bury the dead,” says R Baskar, a fisherman. “A tipper lorry scooped out bod ies in bunches and dumped them in the pits.”

Patches of green grass have grown over that gory past. Several teams come here to play tournaments of cricket, volleyball, and kabbadi, especially on holidays and during the annual fishing ban period.

“We run around, play our favourite game at the same place where our elders lay buried. We are not spooked by that thought. We play here to forget our horrible past,” says S Pradeep, 30, a boat owner. “For the children, playing here brings relief and keeps them away from bad habits. Alcohol and drug use were a menace many years ago, but not any longer.”

“Tsunami took away the only playground we had, which has now become a small pond. The empty space near the harbour is also gone after expansion. This ground is the only space for us to unwind,” says R Mani, who survived the tsunami as a 10-year-old boy.

Another mass burial site in the village has a diesel filling station operated by the state fisheries department. Trucks stream in and out of this place throughout day and night. What’s it like to work the graveyard shift here? “I know what’s beneath the ground,” ‘says M Padmanabhan, an employee at the station. “They are our people.”