In Andamans, Governor gently eased out of relief and rehab

Incidentally, Kapse appeared on TV on Friday fuelling panic after the second knee-jerk alarm issued by the Home Ministry when he said a second tidal wave was on its way.

Politics is also the undercurrent. Although he survived the UPA’s first reshuffle of ‘‘BJP-nominated’’ Governors, the UPA Centre remote-controls much of the bureaucracy here. And relief groups are turning the heat on Kapse. They have some reason to:

• Tonnes of relief are pouring in from national and international agencies but these are piling up in Car Nicobar and Port Blair.

• In Port Blair, where more than half a dozen camps are sheltering victims, food and other relief material are being provided by several NGOs. ‘‘Where is the government aid?’’ asked a Missionaries of Charity sister at the Nirmala Secondary School.

• In Campbell Bay, several people demonstrated today complaining of an acute shortage of food and no relief.

• People crowding the Deputy Commissioner’s office are angry when they see how crates of bottled water are being loaded into cars and jeeps of senior officials for personal use.

• Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders), an international NGO, is stuck in Port Blair, although it says it has been cleared by the Home Ministry. Said Stuart Zimble, an MSF director: ‘‘We are handicapped by lack of access.’’

• Christian organizations are slamming Kapse’s office for what they call its bias. ‘‘Our volunteers are being prevented from reaching out to the distressed,’’ said Sudipta Singh, programme director of the Church of North India.

• A team of doctors under the leadership of Reena Bose, CNI’s health unit, is sitting idle in Port Blair and not allowed to visit Car Nicobar. They have been told by the administration that their ‘‘services are not needed.’’

• Medical aid is required most now and piles of it are simply waiting to be distributed at Port Blair as well as in Kolkata, CNI workers said.

• Church leaders claim that the Bishop of Car Nicobar, Christopher Paul, was prevented from bringing a group of residents to Port Blair.

Asked about these charges, Chief Secretary V B Bhat told The Sunday Express: ‘‘No one has brought these issues of partisan relief to me. I will inquire into this and do something if doctors’ teams are sitting idle. But there are certain restrictions entering into Car Nicobar for which we can do little.’’