The CM said all the missing fishermen were safe.Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said his government had no clue about Cyclone Ockhi till Thursday afternoon.
"We received the warning about cyclone only Thursday afternoon and started rescue and relief measures immediately," the chief minister told reporters here.
Quoting weathermen, the CM said the present situation was likely to continue till Saturday. However, he said the cyclone was moving 200 km away from the state's coast.
Normally, the State Disaster Management Authority, Indian Navy or the IMD are expected to issue a warning if a cyclone approaches the coast. However, the fishermen in Kerala or the public were not alerted till the rain accompanied with strong winds hit the southern parts of Kerala as a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal intensified into cyclonic storm 'Ockhi'. The cyclonic storm, on its way towards Lakshadweep, battered the southern coastline on Thursday. Dozens of fishermen, who ventured into the sea, are yet to return.
However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials on Friday said there were no lapses on their part as they had in advance warned the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) about 'Ockhi'. It was located 70 km from the state coast on Thursday.
Rescue mission continues
The Kerala government has initiated all possible steps to rescue fishermen stranded in rough sea off the state coast, the chief minister said.
The CM said though the exact number of stranded fishermen was yet to be ascertained, the government was trying to rescue all of them without any delay.
"Around 70 missing fishermen had already got in touch with the rescue teams. But, the teams could not reach them due to inclement weather," he said.
Official sources said around 150 fishermen had already been rescued by a joint team of the Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.
The chief minister said the state has requested the defense ministry to deploy more aircraft for rescue operations in view of the cyclone moving towards Lakshadweep.
Kerala had also sought help of merchant navy for rescue operations. Pinarayi said the rescue operations were also delayed as some of the fishermen stranded in the sea were not ready to leave their boats and come home.
"It is causing some problem. But, it shows that they are safe and efforts to provide food and water to them were on," he said.
Pinarayi also cautioned fishermen not to venture into the sea for rescuing others as the sea was very rough.
Poonthura residents suspend protests
Residents at Poonthura called off their protests as most of the missing fishermen were rescued. A help desk has been functioning at the St Thomas Church in Poonthura. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and former chief minister Oommen Chandy met the people at Poonthura.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday reviewed the situation along with National Disaster Management Authority director general.
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