While farmers exude confidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the rain-ravaged Kanniyakumari district would pave the way for allocation of sufficient funds for relief and restoration work, fishermen feel that the “delayed visit and restricted meeting” was meaningless and had failed to instil confidence in the minds of the people in despair.
The chairman of the Kothaiyar Irrigation System, A. Wins Anto, who handed over a memorandum to the Prime Minister, hopes that the Prime Minister’s visit to the district would ensure sizeable Central assistance in the near future to effectively carry out relief and rehabilitation work.
“During the meeting, the Prime Minister, after patiently listening to all our demands, discussed with us the things to be done for the relief and rehabilitation of the affected population. He also assured us that he would discuss all our demands with the Chief Minister. Hence, we’re quite confident that the Prime Minister would soon come out with a series of measures to assuage our miseries,” Mr. Anto says.
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He also makes it clear that it was not a delayed visit. “Only after getting the State government’s reports on the damages caused by the cyclone, he (Mr. Modi) has visited the district. Though I belong to the Congress party, I don’t find fault with this delay. After studying the reports of damages, he has visited us, and hence, his announcement will certainly auger well for the district,” Mr. Anto says.
However, Rev. Fr. Churchill, General Secretary, South Asian Fishermen Fraternity, says that the Prime Minister’s visit to the district 20 days after the natural calamity was “meaningless”.
“If he (Mr. Modi) is really concerned about the welfare of the traumatised fishermen and the farmers, he should have visited the hamlets where the affected fishermen and the farmers live in large number. If he is ready only to meet a select group of people representing the affected fishermen and the farmers in a place unaffected by the cyclone and rain, the participants of this meeting could have been taken to Delhi for a similar meeting. Hence, we feel that the Prime Minister’s visit has not consoled the affected population of the district,” says Rev. Fr. Churchill.
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Ten fishers rescued
Meanwhile, 10 fishermen from Vallavilai, who had ventured into the sea in mechanised boat ‘Noah Ark’ before Cyclone Ockhi from Kochi, their base, have been rescued by the fishermen during their search operation in deep sea. “Since the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy are not prepared to conduct searches in the areas we suggest, our fishermen are conducting the search operation and have rescued this boat with 10 fishermen. The damaged boat with the fishermen has been brought to Kochi by our fishermen,” Rev. Fr. Churchill said.
He says the fishermen had confirmed the death of 156 persons on the high seas during and after the cyclone. “Our fishermen should return to shores before Christmas. If not, this number may exceed 200,” he adds.