THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The UDF liaison committee, which met here on Thursday, slammed the LDF government’s handling of cyclone Ockhi and its aftermath even as the state grapples to discover the fate of more than a hundred missing fishermen. The meet noted that the government has been a “total failure” due to the “lack of crisis management and co-ordination between various departments to deal with the situation”.
“The government’s duty is not declaring a financial package alone after a natural calamity, but to save people from the mishap and provide succour to the affected by launching effective rescue and relief operations,” the meet said, adding the calamity’s magnitude intensified because “the state government slept over repeated warnings by various agencies on a deep depression in the sea.”
‘TN and Lakshadweep understood cyclone warnings better’
Comparing the “slackness” of the Kerala government with the “agile” administrations of Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep in their response to weather forecasts, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said they had all received the same warnings issued by various agencies. Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep understood that a cyclone was in the making and took adequate measures, including the evacuation of people,” he said.