Alleging that the failure on the part of the district administration to issue proper warning had resulted in an unprecedented natural calamity in Kanniyakumari district and fishermen going missing, Opposition leader and DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Monday said the AIADMK government was afraid to press the Centre for relief and to declare Ockhi a national disaster.
“Unless the Centre declares it a national disaster, it will be very difficult to restore Kanniyakumari to its original state. But the AIADMK government is suppressing facts about the disaster. Even Union Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman is believed to have said that Tamil Nadu is not giving details about actual situation on the ground,” Mr. Stalin, who is in Kanniyakumari to visit Ockhi affected areas, told The Hindu .
Mr. Stalin said people in fishing villages were going through agonising moments as around 2,000 fishermen were missing. “But the government maintains only 100 fishermen are missing. Even though the Deputy Chief Minister along with his three Cabinet colleagues and three IAS officers had camped in the district, they were not able get proper information,” he alleged.
Rejecting the claim of Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar that a warning was issued on November 20, Mr. Stalin said he was told by the fishermen in the district that they had not received any warning in advance and the government also failed to distribute GPS equipment to them as promised during the last Assembly election.
‘Knee-jerk operations’
While lauding the Kerala Government’s relief operations after ‘Ockhi’, the DMK leader expressed dismay over the knee-jerk operations here. He also said the State government should take a cue from neighbouring Kerala and distribute ₹10 lakh each to the families of the victims of the Ockhi. “Tamil Nadu has given only ₹4 lakh each to the families. If the State government fails to prevail upon the Centre to declare the situation as natural disaster, the DMK MPs will make a representation to the Prime Minister on the issue,” he said.
Mr. Stalin met Collector Sajjansingh R. Chavan at the Collectorate to get the details about the relief work carried out after the nature’s fury.
“I am disappointed with the manner in which the district administration has carried out the relief operations in the affected areas; the administration has failed to provide basic amenities to the affected population even after three days since the disaster struck,” said Mr. Stalin.
He also visited Cherukole, Moolachal, Manavaalakurichi, Muttom Fishing Harbour, Thadikaarankonam and other areas.
