Cutting across party lines, members in the Lok Sabha on Friday sought stronger coordination among various agencies to deal with natural disasters, with some of them alleging that the advance warning for Cyclone Ockhi was given to Kerala very late.
Congress and Left members, especially from Kerala which bore the brunt, sought a probe into the alleged mismanagement, lack of coordination and other aspects of the disaster while narrating the ordeal of death and destruction they had witnessed when the cyclone hit the State. They demanded that the devastation be declared a national calamity.
Initiating a discussion, Congress leader K.C. Venugopal sought a “functional” monitoring system and efforts to bring back hundreds of people who are still missing after the cyclone. The cyclone, which had hit Kerala and Tamil Nadu on November 30, claimed several lives and caused widespread damage. A large number of fishermen are still missing.
He sought to know the steps taken by the Centre so far and wondered whether it was “insensitive” on the issue.
Mr. Venugopal, who represents Alappuzha, urged the government to come out with a timely and comprehensive relief package for Kerala, where more than 75 people have been killed and hundreds of fishermen are missing.
“We cannot accuse anybody for natural calamities... but we could have taken precautions” and had early warnings, he said claiming that some officers have committed mistakes. There has also been impact on the economy as they go into deep sea for many days together and at times are not even assured of income.
Nominated member Richard Hay claimed that the tragic aftermath of Ockhi could have been averted if the Kerala government had taken measured to warn fishermen in advance. When he claimed that the Centre had provided advance warning and relief later, CPI(M) members protested saying he was not aware of the ground realities.
Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar intervened to defend Mr. Hay, saying there was a feeling that the India Meteorological Department had provided adequate advance alert to the State but fishermen were not warned.
P. Karunakaran [CPI(M)] said the Centre should give Kerala a package of ₹7,348 crore and declare Ockhi a national calamity, a demand supported by N.K. Premchandramn (RSP) and Jose K. Mani [KC(M)].
Shashi Tharoor (Congress), who represents Thiruvananthapuram constituency, said there was no early warning signal available to the State government, even when the radars to provide advance warnings were located in Kerala (Thumba) itself. He demanded immediate investigation into the lapses for gaps leading to loss of lives and properties.
Since this is a “horrendous human tragedy”, Mr. Tharoor said the government should be sensitive in compensating States hit by this. “It is not compensation, we need some structural steps to be taken to mitigate loss” due to national calamity of such a magnitude, he said.
