NAGERCOIL: The deep blue sea was their provider and they revered it. That was past. Even two years down the line after Ockhi left them in a shambles, the wounds inflicted by the cyclone on the minds of Thoothoor residents are yet to heal. For many, the sea is now associated with death and destruction.
Meet 45-year-old B Prema from Chinnnathurai in Thoothoor who lost her husband, the lone bread-winner of the family, in the natural calamity.
“Though the government has given us financial assistance and job to one of our family members, it could not compensate for the loss,” she said.
As her two daughters got married, the government gave the job to her younger daughter. Now her daughter, a BA English literature graduate, was working in a far-off place. She has to leave for work at 7 am and would return only after 7.30 pm.
“Most of the time I will be alone at the house, and the memories of the cyclone haunt me off and on,” she said.
The plight of Prema’s neighbour M Kemitha ( 42) is also no different. She had lost her husband P James and son J Kejin in the calamity. Kemitha said that though she was given a job as noon-meal cook assistant, she could not continue her job owing to poor health.
Kemitha claimed that though she asked the authorities concerned to give the job to her daughter, a BCom graduate, the authorities had reportedly told her to join first and that her daughter would be given the job later.
“Now my entire family is struggling to make ends meet as my two sons and daughter are unemployed. The money given by the government was just enough to repay the loans we took to buy the boat that was lost in the cyclone,” she said, adding that if the government provides a job to her daughter, it would help the family.
Could money compensate for the lost lives? No, definitely not. A woman who lost her husband in the cyclone said that she had heard people saying, on many occasions, that since she received the finanicial assistance of Rs 20 lakh she was lucky.
“The very statement adds to my pain. I am still living with the memories of my husband. Nothing can compensate for the loss,” she said.
President, International Fishermen Development Trust P Justin Antony said that Ockhi cyclone had taught us what we lacked. “In order to avoid loss of human lives on such occasions, the government should take precautionary steps and should launch immediate rescue efforts,” he said.
He urged to the authorities concerned to establish a branch of National Disaster Management Centre and a meteorological centre in Thoothoor. “Besides, a helipad and helicopters and speed boats should be stationed here,” he demanded.
A merchant navy captain Johnson Charles from Colachel, who is also the advisor of Meenavar Orunginaippu Sangam said that many lives were lost in Ockhi only due to lack of proper communication mechanism.
“Frequent uninterrupted communication device should be fixed in every boat,” he said.
He added that radiotelephony and daily weather report should be made available in each boat. “The same radiotelephony is being used in Sri Lanka and neighbouring countries,” Captain Johnson Charles added.