Thiruvananthapuram: The death toll due to the Okkhi cyclone rise 52 on Tuesday as more bodies were recovered and the search for missing fishermen in the high seas continues. The Officials of the state control room said in the monitoring of the search operation that on Tuesday six bodies were found from Kozhikode. Two bodies were found in Kochi on Monday night, out of the total bodies, 24 on the banks of Thiruvananthapuram and 10 from Kochi. Seven bodies in Kollam, six from Kozhikode, two in Malappuram and one each from Thrissur, Kannur and Kasaragod.
The Official sources said that 95 fishermen are still missing, so the search operation will continue.
The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday asked the people to donate to the Ockhi Cyclone Relief Fund established by the state government for the rehabilitation of the affected families. The Vijayan said that people in the state and central government employees, private institutions and social and cultural areas should be generously contributing to the fund. He also said that the help of individuals, institutions and organizations is necessary because a huge amount was needed to take rehabilitation projects.
The Minister of State Fisheries J. Mercykutti visited the coastal area of the district to find out the situation.
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of the Latin Catholic Church Soosa Pakiam governor P. Sathasivam and raised various demands, including missing deep search of fishermen.
On Monday, hundreds of fishermen under the auspices of the Latin Catholic Church launched a campaign to the Raj Bhavan in support of their demands for the increase in the amount of compensation.
The State Government has announced a relief package for the affected victims, besides other things, the families of both of them had been given Rs 20 lakhs which had died in the cyclone, which was destroyed on the coast on November 29-30. Due to the damage caused by cyclone, the state government has also sought financial assistance of Rs 1,834 crore from the Center.
