Thiruvananthapuram: The Indian National Congress president Rahul Gandhi visited Poonthura and Vizhinjam in the city that were affected by cyclone Ockhi and called for a better calamity warning system. Mr Gandhi who interacted with the family members of the deceased and missing said a separate fisheries ministry was the need of the hour. “The condition of farmers and fishermen are very similar. They both are facing difficult times but the farmers have a ministry to look after their matters. It’s high time we have a similar department to protect the interests of fishermen,” he said to loud applause of people who assembled near the St Thomas church at Poonthura.
He said that both the state government and central government should learn from the calamity and ensure that adequate warnings are given to fishermen before they set out to sea for work. Mr Gandhi who reached the city at around 11.40 pm, started by apologising for not coming to the capital earlier due to commitments ahead of the Gujarat elections. “I wasn't here physically but my spirit was here. My thoughts were with you,” he said.
“I’m here to console the family of the dead and see what can be done about the missing people. We are unable to replace this loss but we will try our level best to help you out. Some have lost sons, fathers and they were invaluable and cannot be replaced,” he said to those assembled at Vizhinjam Harbour. Rahul Gandhi said that the state and central governments should learn from the tragedy. He said that the Congress, as an opposition would exert pressure to ensure that rightful compensation was given to all affected. Mr Gandhi was accompanied by opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, Former Chief Minister Oomen Chandy, MP Shashi Tharoor and KPCC President M.M. Hassan.
Fishers allege laxity in rescue operations
The fishermen at Vizhinjam, learned a lesson when the first-hand narration of agonies that coastal folks suffered at Poonthura often got diluted by translation, and directly narrated their ordeal to Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Hindi.
A young fisherman named John Paul Xavier and half a dozen of his friends from Vizhinjam told Mr Gandhi, how they rescued 10 men by running a parallel rescue operation which was disapproved by authorities.
Grieving families of fishermen at Poonthura during Rahul Gandhi's visit on Thursday.
“On the same evening of the cyclone, we went out on a boat arranged by the parish for a rescue mission. The Coast Guard was not ready to join and barred us from going. First, they said they themselves could not take the risk. Later they said they did not have the authority to go. If there had been timely intervention, more lives could have been saved. There needs to be a system to avoid such apathy,” Mr Xavier told Mr Gandhi. The youngster having worked for a while in Oman with North Indian colleagues had a good command over the language and some of his friends backed him with broken sentences. Rahul Gandhi listened to them carefully for several minutes. He left for Tamil Nadu after promising the fishermen that he would make sure that their grievances were relayed to the appropriate authorities very soon.
