Indian Navy's Search and Rescue Operations

[Hindustani78]

Kozhikode , December 12, 2017 20:53 IST
Updated: December 13, 2017 07:52 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...odies-ockhi-death-toll-54/article21527474.ece

Eight bodies recovered off Beypore coast and one off Tanur in Malappuram district

The toll in the Ockhi cyclone in the State has crossed 50 with the recovery of nine bodies off the coasts off Beypore and Tanur on Tuesday.

Eight bodies were recovered off the coast in Beypore and another off Tanur in Malappuram district during a search carried out by the Coast Guard, the Marine Enforcement Wing of the Fisheries Department, and the Coastal police during the day. The official figure of dead across the State now stood at 54.

The bodies were in a highly decomposed state, Moideen Koya, general secretary of the Fishermen Merchants and Commission Agents Association, who was at Beypore, said.

Eight bodies, retrieved and brought to the Beypore port between 2.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m., had been shifted to the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem examination and other formalities, an official of the Indian Coast Guard said.

Spotted by fishermen

It was the men fishing off Beypore who had alerted the police after they spotted the bodies floating in the sea. The Indian Coast Guard boat C-144 recovered the bodies between six and 10 nautical miles off the Beypore harbour and 15 nautical miles from the Tanur coast.

From Tanur

The lone body retrieved from Tanur was shifted to the Ponnani taluk hospital. The bodies could not be identified.

However, All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators Association State vice president Karikkadi Preman said the deceased fishermen could be from the southern parts of the State, particularly Thiruvanthapuram district. “None from the Malabar region could be among the dead,’’ said Mr. Preman, who is also the vice president of the Harbour Development Committee, Beypore.

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Thiruvananthapuram, December 12, 2017 20:06 IST
Updated: December 13, 2017 07:36 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...t-to-reach-more-districts/article21521356.ece

In this file photo, Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority director P.S. Sreekala releases a survey report on illiterate tribal population in Wayanad district.


Aksharasagaram to cover Kollam, Ernakulam and Kozhikode
Aksharasagaram, the coastal literacy project of the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority, will soon be expanded to more districts.

Launched with financial assistance of the Fisheries Department, the project was first kicked off in Thiruvananthapuram, Malappuram, and Kasaragod.

In the next phase, it will cover Kollam (nine local self-government institutions — LSGIs), Ernakulam (15 LSGIs), and Kozhikode (12 LSGIs) districts. Literacy and equivalency programmes will be held in 234 wards in 36 local self-government institutions that have poor literacy rates in these three districts. Selection of instructors, data collection of learners, and formation of ward-level organising committees have been completed.

In the first phase that covered 65 wards in 13 panchayats, 1,605 learners appeared for the Class 4 equivalency examinations. These included 59 people from the Scheduled Castes and one person from the Scheduled Tribes.

The project mainly aims at strengthening Class 4, 7, and 10 equivalency activities. It will benefit illiterate persons, neo-literates, school dropouts, mentally and physically challenged persons, and fishermen who have not passed Class 4.

Aksharasagaram will cover areas such as conservation of fish wealth, environment protection, and career guidance.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...nniyakumari/article21825588.ece?homepage=true

December 17, 2017 07:41 IST
Updated: December 17, 2017 14:55 IST

Difficult path: Many arterial stretches in Kanniyakumari district were inundated in the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi, paralysing vehicle movement. | Photo Credit: PTI


The trail of devastation that Ockhi left in Kanniyakumari district has been unprecedented. While the district will take a while to get back to normalcy, it is the fishing community that seems to be the worst hit, losing near and dear and breadwinners, as well as the tools of its trade — the boats and the nets.

A fortnight after Cyclone Ockhi took a detour westwards and orchestrated a dance of destruction, rehabilitation is still a work in progress in Kanniyakumari, the district worst affected in the State.

The cyclone hit the shoreline and areas close to the Western Ghats hard, leaving a trail of damage. The unofficial counting of missing fishermen is not yet over. Damaged houses and roads, landslips, mutilated power lines, ravaged crops and uprooted trees mar the otherwise serene Kanniyakumari landscape. Coastal villages are keening for fishermen, who are dead or presumed dead.

Rude shock
Residents were caught unawares on the first day of December. When the storm wound its way to Lakshadweep, it left the movement of vehicles on arterial roads paralysed. Rail traffic was hit due to inundation of the track, landslips and damage to power lines. The district administration, on December 1, had to borrow power saws from neighbouring districts to remove uprooted trees.

Even as the official machinery, with its limited resources, was struggling to crank up the restoration work to top gear, a section of opportunistic traders sold essential commodities at exorbitant rates.

A litre of packaged drinking water was sold at ₹40 and a candle at ₹25. When the demand for generators increased sharply as the district plunged into darkness, ₹600 was charged for hiring a generator for 30 minutes just to pump water from wells to overhead tanks.

The damage inflicted by Cyclone Ockhi affected all aspects of life
Houses 5032
Electric poles 13450
No. of villages hit by drinking water shortage 1155
No. of Panchayats hit by drinking water shortage 95
Area under paddy prior to Ockhi (in hectares) 4284 Hectares of paddy damaged 299
No. of coconut trees uprooted 13150
No. villages with such uprooted trees 144
Power cables 802 kms
Rubber trees 5.63 lakh
Banana trees 48.15 lakh
Trees uprooted on govt. land 11299
Trees uprooted along the road 175
Damage to horticultural crops (in hectares) 3623
Primary school buildings 18
Middle school buildings 9
Panchayat, panchayat union roads damaged 192.23 kms State highways 9.8 kms
Important roads 11.9 kms
Other roads 53.34 kms
As many as 178 persons from the Kaani tribe in Western Ghats affected

However, by all accounts, it was the fate of the fishermen that was by far the worst. Confusion prevailed for more than a week over fixing the number of missing boats, even as the fisherfolk protested against the delay in launching search operations deep sea.

Though Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her visit, provided an assurance that the search operation with aircraft and ships would be intensified, the loss of human lives and equipment at sea remains unquantified due to a mismatch between the statistics provided by fishermen and the district administration.

“The exact number of missing boats and fishermen can be ascertained only around December 22-23 as our people would return home from deep sea fishing a couple of days ahead of Christmas,” says Fr. Churchil, general secretary, South Asian Fishermen Fraternity.

Former civil servant M.G. Devasahayam presents a macro perspective on the entire incident: “The Government of India’s attitude towards cyclone-hit Kanniyakumari has been extremely distressing. The National Disaster Management Authority, headed by the Prime Minister, is not functioning. There was no forecasting. The Indian Coast Guard and the Navy did not undertake immediate search and rescue operations in the sea, leading to the death of over 100 fishermen. Even after two weeks, several hundreds are missing. On land, there is massive destruction of agricultural, horticultural and floricultural crops,” he said.

“The loss amounts to thousands of crores of rupees. The State government is unable to cope and the Central government is maintaining a deafening silence. A Central team should visit the district immediately to make a realistic assessment of the destruction and damage so as to award decent relief and compensation,” Mr. Devasahayam added

The government, after realising the magnitude of the situation and people’s anger, rushed senior officials to the district, who expedited relief and rehabilitation efforts.

After Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s announcement of ₹20 lakh each to families of the deceased fishermen, farmers also sought a similar compensation to the families of eight agriculturists killed in the cyclone.

Restoration work

Officials say that, as of now, more than 90% of restoration and rehabilitation work has been completed. “By reinstalling 13,450 electric poles, all 5,113 transformers are operational. Power supply has been restored in the plains. Since we have to install additional electric poles in the rocky terrain of Western Ghats, restoration work will be completed in a day or two,” says a senior Tangedco official. Agriculture and Horticulture officials too claim that survey of damaged crops is almost over and they are in the process of giving compensation to affected farmers.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks the Chief Minister | Photo Credit: MONEY SHARMA

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ckhi-hit-areas-on-tuesday/article21823110.ece


Modi will assess loss of lives and property in an hour-long tour.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in the State capital on Tuesday evening for an hour-long visit to assess loss of lives and property in Cyclone Ockhi.

According to information available with the government, Mr. Modi will reach here at 4.45 p.m. and leave a little after 6 p.m.

He would hold discussions with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his Cabinet members and top State officials, and may also visit one of the coastal hamlets that have suffered heavy human casualty in the cyclone.

The Prime Minister would reach Mangaluru and fly out to Lakshadweep. On his return, he will also visit Kanyakumari.

Latin Church sought it
The Latin Catholic Church had sought a visit by the Prime Minister to assess the loss of lives and property that the coastal fishers had suffered following the cyclone.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had visited coastal hamlets in Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari districts soon after the campaign for the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly election was over, putting heavier pressure on the State BJP leadership to ensure at least a quick visit by the Prime Minister.

 

[Hindustani78]

Prime Minister's Office
19-December, 2017 18:48 IST
PM interacts with people affected by Cyclone Ockhi; reviews progress of cyclone-relief measures in Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.

PM announces package of relief measures for cyclone affected States

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today met and interacted with people, including fishermen and farmers, affected by Cyclone Ockhi, during a visit to the cyclone affected areas of Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In the course of the day, the Prime Minister interacted with people in Kavaratti, and Kanyakumari. He also visited Punthura village near Thiruvananthapuram, which is one of the villages that faced the impact of the cyclone. People explained to him, the hardships faced by them on account of the cyclone. The Prime Minister assured the people that all help will be provided to them and that the Union Government stands shoulder to shoulder with them in this hour of crisis.

The Prime Minister held separate detailed review meetings on the current situation and relief measures, at Kavaratti, Kanyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram. The Governors, Chief Ministers of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, and Administrator of Lakshadweep along with senior officials were present at the respective meetings.

The Prime Minister said that the Union Government will support the cyclone-affected States through a package of relief measures.

· The Centre will dispatch immediate financial assistance worth Rs. 325 crore to cater to the requirements of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep.

· The financial assistance announced by the Prime Minister today, is over and above the assistance of Rs. 280 crore to Tamil Nadu, and Rs. 76 crore to Kerala, disbursed earlier this month, after Cyclone Ockhi hit the two States/UTs.

· The Government of India will support the reconstruction of approximately 1400 houses fully damaged due to Cyclone Ockhi, on priority, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). Under this programme, each beneficiary will get upto Rs. 1.5 lakh as support for building a new house.

· Insurance companies have also been advised to pay the insurance claims of people affected by Ockhi cyclone expeditiously.

· An ex-gratia assistance of Rs. 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased, and Rs. 50,000/- to each of those seriously injured due to the cyclone have been sanctioned under the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

Earlier, during the review meetings, the Prime Minister was briefed on the impact of Cyclone Ockhi, the third major cyclone of this kind, to hit this area in the last 125 years. The cyclone hit on November 30, 2017, and the search and rescue operations, began the same day. So far, a total of 197 ship days involving 20 surface platforms and about 186 flying hours have been utilised by the Indian Coast Guard for search and rescue operations. In addition, a total of 156 ship days and 399 flying hours, involving 10 ships and 7 types of aircraft have been utilised by the Indian Navy. A total of 183 fishermen and civil administration personnel were carried on board these ships to aid in the rescue operations. A total of 845 fishermen have been rescued or assisted till date.

The Prime Minister was informed that the surveillance was carried out even beyond 700 nautical miles from the shore.

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