Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday handed over cheques to the tune of ₹35.40 crore to the families of 177 fishermen who were declared missing following cyclone Ockhi, which swept through Kanniyakumari and neighbouring parts of the district in November last year.
Based on the recommendations of a high-level committee under the Commissioner of Revenue Administration, compensation was granted to the families of 139 fishermen from Kanniyakumari district, 19 from Cuddalore district, 15 from Nagapattinam district, three from Thoothukudi district and one from Pudukkottai district.
As many as 3,506 fishermen were rescued, while 264 mechanised boats and 24 country boats were retrieved. Despite a large-scale relief operation, 27 fishermen died and 177 were declared missing in the natural disaster.
A solatium of ₹20 lakh each to the kin of the deceased fishermen had already been disbursed through the respective District Collectors, in accordance with the Chief Minister’s direction.
Though under normal circumstances, missing persons would be declared dead only after seven years, the State government was in this case relaxing the norms of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar said.
As regards the low depression over the Arabian Sea, he said fishermen were being kept informed via ham radio through the Union Defence Ministry, and that “100%, they are not in the path to be taken by the depression.” They were safety camping in the Lakshadweep islands, he added.
