KOCHI: While figures regarding the lives lost and the persons missing due to the cyclone Ockhi which hit the Kerala and Tamil Nadu coasts on November 30, available with the Union and state Governments and others, are perplexing, the hopes for an adequate compensation package from the Centre for the affected remain a distant dream. The figures of the Central Government and state government do not match. Adding to the woes, the Central team which assessed the damage has not filed a report yet. The report is crucial to get a better rehabilitation package for the fisher folks.
As confusion prevails on the number of deaths and the missing persons, records from the Ministry of Home Affairs (Disaster Management Division) say 75 lives were lost and 137 were missing in Kerala and 35 lives were lost and 199 persons were reported missing from Tamil Nadu. As per the Disaster Management Division, the details were prepared according to the information received from the governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Earlier, the Kerala Police released a report on January 22, saying 47 people had died in Kerala and 188 were reported missing. The police list, which will be used as a reference while providing financial relief to the family of the missing and the dead, was prepared on the basis of the cases reported in police stations, where FIRs were registered. The figures prepared by the state government has not tallied with the details published by the Latin Catholic Church. The Kerala Region Latin Catholic Council spokesperson Shaji George said may be a wrong communication between the Central and state Governments was behind the unmatched figures.
“According to the church, there were 47 deaths and 118 persons are yet to be traced. Apart from the unmatched figures, we demand the Central delegation which visited the coasts and assessed the damage to submit the report to the Union Government. Only then the government can declare relief funds,” he added.
“In order to support the affected people of the state after the cyclone ‘Ockhi’, the Government of India has released assistance of Rs 76.50 crore to Kerala from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) on December 11 last year for relief measures. Further, the Union Government has released an amount of Rs 133 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the Kerala Government on December 27, 2017,” said the report available with the Home Ministry’s Disaster Management Division.
The ten-member delegation led by Bipin B Mallick, Additional Secretary (Disaster Management) in the Union Home Ministry, visited the coast and assessed the cyclone-related losses and damage on December 26 last year. “The total expense for the visit of the team is Rs 10 lakh. However, the affected people have not received any aid so far,” said Shaji George. Meanwhile, the State Disaster Management Authority, under the state government, has estimated the monetary loss is Rs 422.16 crore due to ‘Ockhi’ in the state.