Ockhi-hit fishermen pledge to make Kanniyakumari a ‘Palmyrah Zone’

During the protest, Devasahayam, retired IAS officer and former Chief Secretary of Haryana, said that India is a welfare state in which the government should aim for a socialist society and independence for the people but the governments here provide liquor to the people.

Article 48(2) of the Constitution directs the government to protect natural resources but the government neither protects the environment nor gives compensation to victims, he said, adding, “When the State government demanded Rs 9,000 crore as compensation for cyclone ‘Ockhi’, the Centre had only given Rs 133 crore but had provided Rs 28,000 crore for constructing the container terminal near Kanniyakumari.” Devasahayam further said, “People can survive natural disasters but not man-made disasters. The container terminal at Kanniyakumari has the potential to cause artificial catastrophe.”

He said that ever since ‘Ockhi’, the people have been protesting for every single cause. “If the elected representatives are sensitive towards our needs there is no need for protests. So the people should vote carefully as Parliamentary election is scheduled next year,” said Devasahayam.

Jagath Casper, Coordinator of the protest, said that there was a time when the district used to be covered with palm trees and many of the villages in the district were named after the tree but the green cover has depleted now. Their presence would lower the wind speed to a great extent and as they were absent during Ockhi, the district was badly damaged.

To safeguard against a similar disaster, one lakh palm trees will be planted around the district in three months and an expert on Palm, Godson, from Mumbai, has been roped in for the purpose.