THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the cyclone-hit areas and interaction with Kerala’s fishermen, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to visit the state next Tuesday to review the situation. Modi is also expected to visit the Lakshadweep islands and a couple of coastal villages in Kanyakumari on that day.
The PMO has already informed the state government about the visit. Kerala is hopeful the PM’s visit will help meet its demands for relief. The state government had approached the Centre seeking to declare Cyclone Ockhi as national calamity and announce a `1,843-crore package for rehabilitation. The death toll in the state following the cyclone hit 70 on Saturday after two bodies were recovered off the Kozhikode coast.
Modi’s visit to Kerala more than two weeks after Ockhi gains political significance as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had alleged ‘discrimination.’ The BJP had given a proposal for Modi to visit Poonthura, Vizhinjam and Adimalathura based on consultation with the Church leadership, but he is likely to visit only Poonthura, according to BJP district president S Suresh.
Govt corrects itself
A total of 300 persons are missing after Cyclone ‘Ockhi’ struck the state, according to latest figures released by the government late on Saturday. While 255 persons were missing from Thiruvananthapuram, 45 persons were missing from Kollam and Ernakulam districts.
According to official figures, 40 bodies recovered from sea are yet to be identified. The new figures were released after collating information from various departments. Though the government had till now maintained that less than 100 people were missing, the Latin Catholic Church had pegged the figure at around 250. According to government sources, the figure rose after those missing cases, in which FIR