They need more

According to Secretary, Health, P. Hota, the emphasis of the relief work will be on children and mothers.

‘‘The states are coping well, for instance Tamil Nadu itself has 18,000 doctors. Along with this the Indian Council of Medical Research is providing help with the effort to contain the spread of epidemics,’’ he said.

‘‘The hospital in Car Nicobar has been made functional since last evening. We should compliment the spirit of the ICMR team on the islands who have been holding charge despite personal tragedy where family members of the staffers were lost in the disaster,’’ he said. The Ministry is also getting technical support from the UNICEF and the WHO.

The total number of people affected by the earthquake and tidal waves has been put at 8.77 lakh and the damage is estimated to be worth thousands of crores of rupees.

After a meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to review rescue and relief operations, the government said that all tourists, including Americans, have been evacuated.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee emphasised that the government had not refused foreign assistance for the disaster. While the death toll in the disaster is estimated to be10,000, Mukherjee put the official figure of dead at 6,974, of which Tamil Nadu alone accounted for 6,073. He put the death toll of Andaman and Nicobar at 124, saying full details were not yet available.

Mukherjee said the relief and rescue operations were the largest since independence, involving 25 aircraft, 30 helicopters, 30 warships and over 400 troops besides civil administration.

In Mumbai, actor Poonam Dhillon cleared her shop on Tuesday, to collect clothes and shoes to send to Sri Lanka, while art collector-turned-dealer Priyasri Patodia has put together a charity art exhibition. Bhendi Bazar-based Khair-e-Ummat Trust is organising relief material to be sent to Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Indian Airlines is operating relief flights to ferry those stranded at Port Blair.