The rescue operations by the coast guard, the navy and the air force are underway in the face of Cyclone Ockhi for the fifth day on Sunday. However, 96 people are still reported missing due to the cyclone, which has been lashing the Kerala and TN coast since Wednesday.
According to the latest details provided by state Revenue control room the death toll so far is 19 while 96 people are still missing.
“In total as many as 183 persons have been rescued in the operations carried out by the coast guard, navy and the air force. As per the information received, the fishing boats, that lost direction due to Ockhi, have moved towards the north. Therefore ships and aircrafts engaged in rescue operations have moved more towards the north now,” Union minister of state for Tourism Alphons Kannanthanam, after a review meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan told media.
According to the Union Minister, the coast guard has rescued 88 persons, the navy 65 persons and the air force nine persons.
The Chief Minister meanwhile said that rescue operations have been going on coordinating various agencies of the state and the centre. The CM has visited coastal area of Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram.
According to reports, five more deaths were reported on Sunday in Kerala in cyclone related disasters. IANS reports that 475 fishermen have been rescued as of Sunday.
Meanwhile the fisher community in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday decided to launch their own rescue operations as 55 boats ventured into the sea to search for the missing fishermen.
Rescue teams decided to step up their operations after a body in a highly decomposed state was recovered near the Vizhinjam coast earlier in the day. The boats, 40 from Poonthura and 15 from Vizhinjam, left the shores with food and water.
State Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran and Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma have been engaged in rescue and rehabilitation operations since November 30 and coordinating with the navy, air force and coast guard officials.
People's protest at Poonthura
However, anger was mounting in coastal villages as they were unhappy with the authorities failing to take precautions before the cyclone hit the state.
"The authorities have failed miserably and the relief camps are also poorly managed with even the basic facilities not available. We have been demanding opening of a control room in our area but nothing has happened," said a Poonthura resident.
The fishermen blocked traffic on Sunday in agitation.
With IANS Inputs