TERESSA ISLAND, JANUARY 4 Curious faces gather around the chopper as it touches down at Teressa island, about 380 km from Port Blair.

Within minutes, the number swells. And then, the stories unfold—of lack of food, drinking water, officials ‘deserting’ the scene, and the hovering threat of a malaria outbreak.

Stretched to the limit, the relief camp residents say they are now going to set up another camp on their own, near the only water source in the island—a stagnant pond.

Says Harold, one of the 3,600 nameless faces stranded here: ‘‘Babu, have you got something for us? There is no dal and edible oil. If you don’t give us food, we won’t be able to survive this.’’

Says Sub-Inspector Sushil Nair, who was posted on the island when the killer waves struck: ‘‘The conditions are terrible. No district administration official has bothered to come here and enquire about our needs. No effort has been made to restore water supply. The Assistant Commissioner of Nancowrie arrived yesterday but he said his primary task is to evacuate people. But what’s the point in thrusting more and more people into camps when there are no basic amenities?’’

Nair’s colleague Abdul Rashid says he’s being trying hard to restore radio communication in the battered island. ‘‘Health authorities are brainstorming on ways to tackle the outbreak of diarrhoea and malaria. Have they ever bothered to find out what’s happening here? We are trying to purify the little stock of water we have in our own small way. But that’s hardly adequate,’’ he says.

  PM for all-party meeting on Sunday  

• PM Manmohan Singh has decided to convene an all-party meeting on the tsunami tragedy on Sunday, a day after he returns from his trip to Andamans. • The Opposition has been asking for such a meeting to formulate a ‘national response.’ • Singh will leave for Chennai on January 6 and be back to inaugurate the Pravasi Diwas in Mumbai the next day. • He will leave for the Island Territories the next day and return to Delhi on January 8. • At the Sunday meeting, Home Minister Shivraj Patil is expected to make a presentation on the government’s disaster relief work.

‘‘The Defence people came to drop food material. But what is the point in dumping bags of rice when you don’t have utensils to prepare food? We have only four degchis. How can we prepare food for everyone, especially with the acute shortage of edible oil and fuel,’’ says Rashid.

Trudging away from the crowd, along a meandering pathway with asbestos sheets and a few broken wooden blocks slung on his shoulders, is Judicus who managed to survive the waves by running on to a hillock.

‘‘We thought we’d tell the administration to arrange for an alternative but then the wait’s become too much. It’s been 10 days and now we will try to put up a camp on our own, about two kilometers from here. We selected that place as it has the only water source, a stagnating pond,’’ he says.

Suddenly, a wail cuts through the complaints. ‘‘My child is running a high fever, please do something,’’ cries Surmai, with folded hands.

Her only hope: Dr Michael, stranded along with the rest.

‘‘Whenever I get a complaint, I try to give whatever medicines are available. But I badly require antibiotics and antimalarial drugs. There are quite a number of cases of fever and respiratory distress. Since mosquitoes abound here, we are expecting a malaria outbreak. I have sent requisitions through wireless but nothing has arrived. The hospital building has been completely washed out. I urgently need more supporting staff,’’ says Dr Michael.

The situation is likely to get worse, he warns, as more people are likely to be shifted here from the Chowra island nearby.

Spread over 101.4 sq km, Teressa is one of the 12 islands of the Nicobar achipelago. Part of the ancient India-Burma sea trade route, the island was home to about 2,000 persons—over 388 households as per the last Census—till last week.

Although the Andaman and Nicobar district administration pegs the death toll at one and the missing tally at 52, those in camps say at least 42 have died and 11 are missing.

Says longtime resident, Ignatius: ‘‘The PWD building, the hospital, the school have all collapsed. There is no water, no electricity. Can you tell people in Port Blair that we need halogen lamps, bleaching powder, DDT, or chlorine tablets. Today, the entire settlement has been reduced to a virtual graveyard. We have buried many dead bodies here.’’

As the chopper readies to take off, Rashid comes running. ‘‘Some of the first persons to leave the island after the tragedy were three government officials: two engineers and a senior doctor. We pleaded and asked them to stay back but they chose to desert us,’’ he cries out.