Milandhoo was uninhabited in 1997 , when the Maldive 's Minister of Atolls Abdulla Hameed launched a project to construct houses there and relocate residents from the neighboring island Maakandoodhoo , where the water had become contaminated . The resettlement was hastened in 2004 , when the Boxing Day tsunami severely damaged Maakandoodhoo . The government officially recognized Milandhoo as an inhabited island on 20 March 2005 . With more than 2140 residents , it is now the most populous island in Shaviyani Atoll . It became the atoll 's administrative capital on 26 October 2009
Boxing Day tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
Milandhoo (Shaviyani Atoll)