In a span of 13 years, the fisherfolk in Kanniyakumari district have witnessed two major disasters, both resulting in significant loss of lives and livelihood. While the tsunami caught the fishing community unawares on December 26, 2004, when they were just waking up from slumber after Christmas celebrations, Cyclone Ockhi that hit the district on November 30, 2017, had made it a gloomy Christmas this year.
Tuesday, the 13th anniversary of tsunami, witnessed homage being paid to those killed in the disaster, particularly in places like Melamanakkudi, Kottilpadu, Colachel and Keelamanakkudi.
The devastation caused by tsunami in the district was along the villages in the east, south and south-west coast of the district, the lives lost during Cyclone Ockhi was particularly from the villages in the west coast of the district, whose fishermen faced the fury of the cyclone when they were mid-sea.
For the fishing community, the two disasters were of comparable magnitude and a double blow to the community.
S. Sibin, a resident of Colachel, whose house was damaged in the tsunami, said that while the coastal villages were ravaged in the disaster, the damage during Cyclone Ockhi was mid-sea. “Perhaps, that is why Ockhi was not receiving the same attention as that of tsunami since there were no visible damages in the villages,” he said.
Father Anto Joris, parish priest of Poothurai fishing village, said that while the tsunami took lives across age-group and sex, Cyclone Ockhi rounded up all the breadwinners of the families and killed them in the ocean. “In that sense, Ockhi is a greater tragedy than the tsunami,” he said.
“The government does not seem to have learnt any lesson from tsunami, as evident in the lapses seen in the communication and rescue operations during Ockhi,” he alleged.
Vareethiah Konstantine, professor and writer from the district, said that successive steps taken by the government after tsunami only showed insensitivity towards the culture and livelhood needs of the fishing community.
“The rehabilitation measures itself had severe flaws, particularly in terms of the displacements. Later, be it the CRZ-related notifications, the Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill of 2009, Dr. Meenakumari Commission report or the Traditional Coastal and Marine Fisherfolk bill, all were insensitive to the needs of fisherfolk,” he said.
