Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday underlined the need for a united action by the government, nongovernmental organisations, individuals and the civil society to tide over the disaster caused by tsunamis.

Gandhi, who visited Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, which is one of the worst affected by the waves that lashed the eastern and southern coastlines of India on Sunday, expressed confidence that the nation would overcome the situation.

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"Whenever there has been a catastrophe of any kind, everyone has got together," Gandhi, who was accompanied by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, said.

In Nagapattinam, the immediate task was the rehabilitation of affected families of fishermen, she said. The place is one of the worst hit coastal towns, with over 1,700 people reported dead.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani called upon the Centre to declare the devastation a national calamity.

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The Union government should also come up with an insurance scheme for the social security of people living near sea, as they are more vulnerable than others to the fury of nature, he told reporters at Thiruvananthapuram while on his way to visit the affected places in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and Kollam in Kerala.

He said the fishermen affected by the waves urgently needed boats, nets and other fishing implements. The Centre and the state should take necessary steps in this regard, he added.

Advani also wanted the Centre and the state government to work out a long-term plan to help people hit by such tragedies.

National Democratic Alliance Convener George Fernandes also made a trip to Kerala to visit the affected areas in Alappuzha district.

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