Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Thursday night urged the Union Government to declare Cyclone Ockhi that left a trail of destruction along the Kaniyakumari coast as "national disaster" and sought financial assistance for restoration of damaged infrastructure.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was released to the media late on Thursday night, Palaniswami said the Cyclone Ockhi that brought huge rainfall to the district has damaged power infrastructure, agriculture including horticulture and plantation crops, road networks, fisheries infrastructure and drinking water supply.
"As an immediate measure, the "OCKHI" Cyclone that severely affected Kanyakumari District may be declared as a "National Disaster" and necessary financial assistance may be provided for restoration of the infrastructure that was left in tatters by the gusting winds and torrential rains," Palaniswami told Modi in the letter.
The Chief Minister said the damages in Kanyakumari district are "humongous" that warrants the intervention of the Union Government and noted that his administration swung into immediate action to restore normalcy in the district, as well as initiating a detailed assessment of the various damages.
"There are about 5,759 motorized fishing crafts and 1,229 mechanized fishing boats operating from Kanyakumari district. Around 600 mechanized fishing boats go for multiday deep sea fishing voyages. These boats had ventured into sea from our country's various fishing bases located in the western coast for multiday fishing, long before the onset of depression," he said.
Alert about the depression and subsequent cyclone could not be communicated to these fishermen, who were fishing in deep sea, he said and spoke about his meeting with local defence chiefs. The States of Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat have provided shelter and assistance to a large number of Tamil Nadu fishermen and fishing boats and the Government of Tamil Nadu is very thankful to them for their kind gesture, Palaniswami said.
