An all-party meeting convened by the government here on Friday decided to set up a special fund for the victims of Cyclone Ockhi.
The meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, resolved to mobilise resources for the fund from the public. It appealed to employees, political parties, various organisations and institutions to donate to the fund.
The meeting came to a consensus on seeking a special assistance package from the Centre to take up relief and rehabilitation schemes.
Weekly assistance
A weekly assistance of ₹2,000 would be provided to the families of fishermen unable to put out to sea because of inclement weather.
The government conceded the Opposition’s demand to provide jobs for the kin of the fishers who had lost their lives in the storm. Mr. Vijayan said they would be considered for recruitment to various agencies under the Fisheries Department. It was also agreed to provide counselling for the children traumatised by the disaster.
Mr. Vijayan told the meeting that 38 people had lost their lives to the cyclone and 96 were reported missing. He said search and rescue operations were continuing.
While the Opposition accused the government of failure in disaster management, the government put up a stout defence, asserting that it was not at fault.
Opposition charge
Later talking to the media, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the UDF had highlighted the lapses that amplified the magnitude of the disaster. The government had ignored warnings issued by Central agencies about the cyclone. He accused the government of evading responsibility and failure to coordinate relief work.
Mr. Chennithala said the government had been on the defensive at the meeting. He offered to donate one month’s salary to the special fund for cyclone relief, with his office staff contributing a day’s wages.
Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma said the government had tied up with ISRO to use NAVIC, India’s own satellite navigation system, to ensure the safety of fishers at sea. As many as 250 NAVIC devices would be supplied for the trial run by January. “In another six months, we expect all fishing vessels to be equipped with the device that will alert fishermen to adverse weather conditions,” she said.
The meeting, she said, had come to an agreement on providing jobs for the women whose spouses had lost their lives to the cyclone fury.
93 yet to be traced
The Minister said 96 fishermen who had set out to sea from Thiruvananthapuram in small vessels were yet to be traced. While 63 fishers from Thiruvananthapuram had safely berthed at Varavel in Gujarat, another 62 were at Ratnagiri. Some more fishermen were reported to have reached Lakshdweep.
BJP leader O. Rajagopal said the SDMA had failed to alert fishers in Kerala to the impending cyclone. The government, he said, was trying to cover up its failure.
Ministers E. Chandrasekharan, A.K. Balan, T.M. Thomas Isaac, K.K. Shylaja, Kadakampally Surendran and Kadannappally Ramachandran, LDF convener Vaikom Viswan, CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, KPCC president M.M. Hassan, CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran, MPs Shashi Tharoor and N.K. Premachandran and MLAs A.K. Saseendran and Kovoor Kunjumon were among those present.
