As many as 531 fishermen, stranded in the choppy waters off the Kerala and the Lakshadweep coasts due to Cyclone Ockhi, have been rescued, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said today. So far 393 people from Kerala have been rescued, Vijayan said, as the state government announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family of those who died in the storm.
Of the rescued, 132 fishermen were from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram, 66 from Kozhikode, 55 from Kollam, 40 from Thrissur, and 100 from Kanyakumari, Vijayan told reporters. Besides, 138 fishermen have been rescued from the Lakshadweep islands, he said. Vijayan said the Rs 10-lakh compensation would be in addition to the financial assistance of Rs four lakh being given by the fisheries department.
Assistance will also be provided to those who had lost their boat and equipment, he added. In Lakshadweep, 31 relief camps have been opened in the 10 inhabited islands. So far, 1,047 people have been evacuated to the relief camps, official sources said. No casualties have been reported, with the worst-affected islands being Minicoy and Kalpeni. Seven people have lost their lives in Kerala in rain- related incidents over the past two days, official sources said. The state government has opened 29 relief camps in various places.
