Plea to declare Cyclone Ockhi as national disaster filed

The court had directed the state and central governments to file counter affidavit for the petition.

Petitioner Rajan, social activist from Madurai, in his petition stated that Kanniyakumari district was completely ravaged by Cyclone Ockhi on November 29 and 30, but the state government had not issued warnings about the cyclone in advance.

Since there were no warnings issued in advance, thousands of fishermen who went for deep sea fishing had no idea about the cyclone and were completely lost and many of them were still missing.

So Kanniyakumari district should be declared as cyclone-hit and Cyclone Ockhi should be declared as a national disaster, he stated.

He stressed that state government should give compensation of Rs 25 lakh for the family of the deceased fishermen and Rs 10 lakh for injured fishermen.

Steps should also be taken to restore electricity supply in the rural areas, prayed the petitioner.

When the petition was heard by Judges Venugopal and Tharani, they said that Court cannot issue direction regarding disbursal of compensation. Though, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court had already issued direction to state government to take necessary steps to provide basic amenities for Kanniyakumari people.

However, notice to file counter affidavit had been issued to state and central governments regarding the measures undertaken to rescue fishermen and the case was adjourned to December 20.