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Consider these numbers – 11 days, over 120* dead and around 900* still missing.
Cyclone Ockhi hit India’s southern coast on 30 November, it’s gale winds leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. Yet the cries of men, women and children from south Tamil Nadu and Kerala have not been loud enough to outrage us – the media, the government and the people.
Just over 100 kilometres away, in Kerala’s capital, hundreds carried out a similar protest outside the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram, demanding that rescue efforts be stepped up to save nearly 250 fishermen who are still missing.
This sense of betrayal is not limited to the fishing community in Tamil Nadu. Sindhu Maria Napolean, the daughter of a fisherman in Thiruvananthapuram, echoed Father Churchill’s thoughts in a recent Facebook post, which has gone viral. Lashing out at the media and the government, she wrote
So why has the tragedy that has unfolded along India’s southern coast not received the attention that it deserves?
But Father Churchill believes this “negligence” has two reasons. He observes, “In Kanyakumari, we have not elected anyone from the AIADMK. They are all from Congress and DMK. Secondly, unlike other districts, all fishermen in Kanyakumari are Christians.”
What’s worse, the state government is unwilling to accept the missing count, he alleges. The vastly different numbers bear testimony to his allegations.
According to the Kanyakumari district administration, Cyclone Ockhi has killed 12 people, including two fishermen. Refusing to label them as “missing”, the district administration states that the number of fishermen who have “not returned to shore yet” is 462.
However, Devasahayam, who was part of a team that visited the eight worst-affected coastal villages in Kanyakumari district, says that as per eyewitness accounts**, the number of dead is pegged at 82, while those missing are 579. That’s a total of 661 men who are yet to return to shore.
There was a similar discrepancy in missing figures in Kerala as well. The official death toll owing to Cyclone Ockhi in Kerala is pegged at 42, while the number of missing is 96. Fishing associations in the state, however, had a vastly different estimate of those missing.
And while fishermen in both states admit that a natural disaster like Cyclone Ockhi cannot be avoided, preparation for the storm and the response after has been inadequate.
“Our fishermen do deep sea fishing and multi-day fishing. There were 3,000 fishermen at sea before the government issued the warning. The Centre gave a warning on 28 November, while the state government issued the cyclone warning on 29 November evening. We have been fighting, asking why they didn’t warn in advance. We have no facilities to communicate with fishermen who are 200 to 500 nautical miles from shore once a warning is issued,” argues Father Churchill, adding that the Navy and Coast Guard could have used their communication devices to alert fishermen out at sea. “We may have avoided this,” he sighs.
The former bureaucrat, however, pins the blame for the disaster on the central government.
Unlike their counterparts in Kerala, Father Churchill alleges that the response of the Coast Guard and Navy in Tamil Nadu were slow. Father Churchill says,
Hitting out at the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, Father Churchill says, “Our CM is busy with the RK Nagar election. If you can’t govern us, then let us join Kerala. Kanyakumari was part of Kerala before 1956, we share the same climate, food and culture and we also speak Malayalam. If you can’t protect us, let us join Kerala.”
Among their main demands is to declare Cyclone Ockhi a national disaster; to be allowed to join the Navy’s rescue operations; and a relief package from the Tamil Nadu government equivalent to what the Kerala government is offering to the families of victims.
“Declaring it a national calamity is not important. I am extremely pained by the prime minister’s lack of response. As Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, he has not uttered a single word,” he says, pointing out that disaster management is like a military operation carried out by pre-assigned officers, who are trained to handle rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts.
Despite the Tamil Nadu Opposition and fishermen’s associations accusing Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami of not visiting Kanyakumari, the former IAS officer observes that disaster management is outside the purview of the CM and his ministers.
“The CM and Governor coming is nothing but a distraction. A photo-opportunity is a waste of time. The CM should have, however, given a strong statement for the state disaster management authority to act,” he explains, adding that EPS and Pinarayi Vijayan can only provide relief to families, by way of issuing Government Orders.
Devasahayam emphasises, “There is hope that they will return before Christmas. But hope is fast waning. The point is that we call ourselves a superpower, but even after 10 days, we can’t find bodies. If we have all the technology and capability and we still can’t save human lives, what is the use?”
*Figures are based on fishermen association numbers in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
** A number of fishermen, who had ventured out to sea to help in rescue operations, had reported seeing bloated bodies floating. They were, however, unable to bring several of these bodies back to shore.
(The article was originally published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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