Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) cadre staged a demonstration at Jawahar Grounds in Palayamkottai on Saturday demanding compensation to farmers and fishermen who suffered huge losses in the recent cyclone Ockhi and rain.
The protestors said the Central and State governments had failed to issue cyclone warning to the fishermen on time, thus causingd huge loss to men and material which should be adequately compensated. Even after reports about missing fishermen started pouring in, search operations were not conducted by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard vessels in the deep sea where the fishermen used to carry out fishing operations.
Farmers of Kanniyakumari, who had suffered extensive loss in the gale and consequent rain, should also be given adequate compensation as their livelihood had been wiped out in the natural disaster.
The affected farmers and fishermen should be given ₹50 lakh each, the protestors said.
In the agitation organised in front of Kanniyakumari Collectorate in Nagercoil, PMK president G.K. Mani participated. In Thoothukudi, the PMK cadre staged a demonstration near VVD Signal.
Tiruchi
The PMK staged demonstrations in various parts of the delta districts.
In Tiruchi, the partymen staged a demonstration near the Collector’s Office. Led by the party's deputy general secretary Sridhar, the agitators called for the resignation of the government led by Edappadi K. Palaniswami. They criticised the rationale behind the Chief Minister and Ministers spending their time in R.K. Nagar for the by-election campaign without bothering about the fate of the missing fishermen.
The party would sustain its struggle until the government devoted its attention to the plight of fishermen and provided jobs and compensation to the fishermen families that had lost their earning members due to the cyclone, they said.
The protestors were also critical about the State government's reluctance to address the plight of fishermen who were constantly attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy. The protests in Thanjavur and Nagapattinam were led by PMK deputy general secretaries K.R. Venkataraman and Palanisamy respectively. They demanded government job for a family member of the fishermen who perished in the sea.
