150 nautical miles and 278 kms from Port Blair, it takes between 16 to 24 hours to reach Car Nicobar by ship. Indians from the mainland need a tribal pass to enter the island.
The government, pitted in a race against the monsoon, readied 3,866 temporary shelters for affected families under trying conditions. Every nail and bolt had to be transported from the mainland and unloaded on the coast where jetties had either been damaged or washed away.
All its 15 villages were completely or partially destroyed. Over 850 of the approximate 20,000 population perished and thousands were evacuated by the Indian Air Force or by ships to Port Blair or Chennai.
The raging water not only robbed the local Nicobarese tribe of their homes and livelihood, it shook the foundations of their religious ethos and culture.
All the ten churches on the island, attended by the 98.5 per cent Christian population, were destroyed and nothing remains of the two football grounds -- the mainstay of the sporting tribalfolk.
Text and photograph: Archana Masih; Design: Dominic Xavier