Chennai: Fishermen, especially those who are still apprehensive about the chances of their missing colleagues making it back to land, are yet to come to terms with the extensive devastation caused by cyclone Ockhi. But the BJP is hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit on Tuesday will mollify the aggrieved families.
Party senior and Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan, who hails from Kanyakumari district, is camping in Nagercoil, the district headquarters, meeting fishermen and assuring them all possible help. On Sunday the Minister assured appropriate action to a delegation of 60 anguished men from Thoothoor fishing hamlet, who called on him in Nagercoil.
“Fishermen from #Thoothur, #Chinnathurai expressed their satisfaction for the search operation conducted by #IGS Vaibhav @IndiaCoastGuard on missing fishermen from Kanyakumari dist. They travelled more than 1,000 nautical miles during search @DefenceMinIndia @nsitharaman,” Mr Radhakrishnan tweeted.
Kanyakumari district fishermen contradict the official figures on the missing or dead. Though the district administration declared 400 fishermen still missing and 12 dead due to cyclone Ockhi, they claim about 240 fishermen died due to cyclone Ockhi. According to the South Asian Fishermen's Federation in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, this figure was arrived based on eyewitness accounts of other fishermen who were at sea.
Fishermen from Thoothoor, Neerodi, Marthandamthurai, Vallavillai, Eraviputhenthurai, Chinnathurai, Poothurai and Enayamputhanthurai — known for expertise as deep sea fishermen, narrate tales of seeing their colleagues drown before them and hundreds are still missing. Their major grouse is that the officials had not warned them about the impending cyclone sufficiently ahead nor have the rescue operations been in time to save scores of precious lives at sea.
