CHENNAI: Reiterating that the State did everything possible to help fishermen and sections of people affected by cyclone Ockhi in Kanniyakumari, CM Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday gave a long list of assistance extended to fishermen, farmers and others affected by the cyclone.
He said when fishermen who knew the nuances of travelling in sea had volunteered to search for missing fishermen, the government readily accepted to bear the expenses for the rescue missions. He also expressed confidence that the Centre would establish a helipad in Kanniyakumari for future purposes.
Earlier, Speaker P Dhanapal read out a resolution condoling the death of fishermen and others who lost their lives. The members observed silence for two minutes as a mark of respect to the departed souls.
Responding to the issue raised by Leader of Opposition M K Stalin, the Chief Minister said in all, immediate assistance to the tune of Rs 26.38 crore was given to Kanniyakumari alone. Besides, many schemes were announced for the affected.
DMK MLA N Sureshrajan, representing Kanniyakumari constituency, said that Stalin rushed to the affected place even as the government was moving at a slow pace. Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar and Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management R B Udhayakumar countered saying they lost no time in reaching out.
Stalin wanted to know whether the government was still trying to trace the missing fishermen since Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman had said the operations had stopped.
Responding to this, the Chief Minister said the State government had requested the Centre to continue the search operations until the last missing fisherman was traced. This was because the State government could not engage itself in the search operations. However, when the relatives of fishermen from Kanniyakumari volunteered to search the missing fishermen, State government bore the expenses for that.
Responding to the demand of Congress MLA J G Prince from Kanniyakumari district that a helipad should be established in Kanniyakumari to enable the launch of immediate search operations during natural calamities, the Chief Minister said, “The Congress-led UPA government was in power for a long time, but they failed to do that. Now, we have urged the Centre to do that and we hope, the Central government will do it.”