The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on Sunday demanded that the State government release a ‘White Paper’ on the number of dead and missing fishermen in the wake of Cyclone Ockhi.
At a State council meeting held here, R. Murali, State general secretary, PUCL said Kanniyakumari district was hit by Cyclone Ockhi and it was still not clear how many deep sea fishermen died or went missing. He appealed to the govt. to release a ‘White Paper’ on the data.
Speaking to reporters, he said the government should make amendments to the National Policy on Disaster Management, which excluded sea-related disaster. Only disasters on land were taken seriously by the government and it must include sea disasters too to safeguard fishermen. The State should provide compensation to all victims in Kanniyakumari.
Describing the weather alert systema failure, Fatima Babu, national council member, PUCL, said fishermen were not warned ahead of the cyclone.
