Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has sought a Rs 1,843-crore package from the centre for relief and rehabilitation of the fishermen affected by cyclone Ockhi in the state. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters after meeting union home minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Saturday that the state had demanded an emergency assistance of Rs 300 crore. This is based on the preliminary assessment carried out by the government. The financial package has been categorised as short-term (Rs 256 crore), mid-term (Rs 792 crore) and long-term (Rs 795 crore).
Mr Rajnath Singh told the chief minister that a high-level central team will visit the state shortly. The state’s demands would be examined by the central team and decisions will be taken accordingly. The state asked the centre to bring the rehabilitation scheme under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project to seek assistance from the World Bank. Mr Pinarayi said there were 13,436 fishermen in the state who are landless and homeless. Besides, there are another 4,148 families who have land but no house.
These fishermen should be included in the Prime Minister’s Gramin Awas Yojana and houses should be constructed for them in 2018-19 period, he said. The state also sought central help for putting in place an effective communication network to connect fishermen with the information centres along the coast. Financial and technical support from the centre was needed for the innovative project.
The state said the cost involved in the massive rescue and search operations carried out by various agencies should be borne by the centre. Mr Rajnath responded positively to this demand, said the CM. Earlier, Mr Vijayan met union defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and thanked her for the effective intervention during her visit to the cyclone-hit areas. Top Navy officials and Coast Guard DG were present at the meeting.
She accepted the state’s demand for continuing the rescue and search operations for ten more days. The chief minister brought to her notice the information provided by fishermen about bodies floating in deep sea. The union minister claimed that on Saturday 23 ships and eight helicopters had taken part in the rescue and search operations. So far the Navy and Coast Guard have carried out 3800 hours of search operations. Helicopters have flown 450 hours over the area. The search operations have been extended up to 500 miles off coast.
