PM visits cyclone-hit TN, Kerala and Lakshadweep
Tamil Nadu and Kerala on Tuesday sought over Rs 17,500 crore for relief and rehabilitation work as Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a hurricane day-long visit to their coastal areas and Lakshadweep promising all help when he met the kin of fishermen who went missing after cyclone Ockhi hit the southern coast.
“This is not the time for lecture and I assure you that we will do everything to help you. That’s why I have come. We are all with you and will do everything. With Christmas round the corner, we wish all the missing to return back,” he said in brief remarks while meeting the families of the fishermen in Poonthura near Thiruvananthapuram, reports IANS.
Modi arrived at the Poonthura Community hall to interact directly with the families of the fisherfolk whose near and dear ones either died or remain missing, giving them a patient hearing as Union Tourism and IT Minister K.J. Alphons translated what they were saying.
It was after that the Prime Minister went on to the stage and spoke briefly.
“The cyclone hit Lakshadweep, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and many of the fishermen are yet to return. We have taken quick action by first sending Defence Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman). The whole country is with you in your grief,” he said to claps from the grief-stricken families.
Kerala Chief Secretary K.M. Abraham made a power presentation highlighting the various needs of the fishermen. The Kerala government sought a Rs 7,340 crore package that included compensation for the 71 dead, help to the permanently disabled, construction of homes, educational assistance and writing off of loans and other programmes meant for the overall upliftment of the fisherfolk.
More than 250 fishermen from Kerala are still missing since the November 30 cyclone.