Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam inspected the Cyclone Ockhi-hit Kanniyakumari district on Sunday and claimed that the destruction was minimal, thanks to adequate precautionary measures taken by the State government.
Separately, three senior Ministers told a press conference here that the State government had constituted committees in 44 villages inhabited by fisherfolk to conduct a survey about the fishermen who had ventured into the sea before the onset of Ockhi in Kanniyakumari district.
At a joint press meet with his cabinet colleagues P. Thangamani (Electricity Minister) and R.B. Udhaya Kumar (Revenue Minister), Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar said the district administration had intensified efforts to locate 97 fishermen who have not returned home.
Asked about some bodies of fishermen being washed ashore in neighbouring Kerala, Mr. Jayakumar said it was difficult to identify the bodies since they were decomposed.
The Ministers said they had sought help from the Union Home Minister after explaining the situation to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. A total of eight ships and an Air Force plane would be pressed into action, they said.
There were as many as 5,759 traditional boats in the district and 5,720 were found to be safe. The government was trying to locate the missing boats, and five boats had already reached the shore. The committee members would find out the registration numbers and names of the boats and the owners respectively.
A Disaster Management control room had been established at Kirathoor. Six boats have been retrieved thus far during search and rescue operations, the Minister said .
