PTI, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KANYAKUMARI: The death toll in rain-related incidents in Kerala rose to 19 even as more than 600 fishermen, stranded at sea off the state’s coast, were rescued, official sources said today. The very severe cyclonic storm ‘Ockhi’ lay centred today over east central and south east central Arabian Sea, they said.
The death toll in rain-related incidents in Kerala climbed to 19, with six more bodies being recovered, the sources said. Eleven of the dead are from the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram.
Yesterday, six bodies were recovered, taking the toll from seven to 13. An India Meteorological department (IMD) bulletin said ‘Ockhi’ has moved further north-northwestwards with a speed of
12 kmph during the past six hours and lay centred about 440 km west-northwest of Amin Divi, 870 km south-south west of Mumbai and 1,070 km south-south west of Surat.
It is very likely to move north-northwestwards for some more time and then recurve northeastwards towards the south Gujarat coast during next 72 hours, it said. According to the sources, 690 fishermen have been rescued in combined operations carried out by the Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force.
Ninetysix fishermen are still missing, they said. Sixtythree houses have been fully damaged and 74 partially. A total of 6581 persons have been shifted to various relief camps in the state. A fresh spell of rainfall is expected to lash Tamil Nadu as the well-marked low pressure area over the south Andaman Sea is likely to turn into a depression in the next 24 hours and a deep depression in the subsequent 48 hours, the Met office said.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reviewed the search and rescue operations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala with senior officials. A total of 357 fishermen, including 71 from Tamil Nadu, stranded in sea due to Cyclone Ockhi, have been rescued by defence force personnel, she said. A photograph on her official Twitter handle showed her inside a helicopter reviewing the search and rescue operations in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari.
“An update on the search and rescue efforts being done by the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force to save the lives of fishermen affected by #CycloneOckhi: 357 fishermen have been saved as of 10 am today,” she wrote on her official Twitter handle. On her arrival in the worst-hit Kanyakumari district by helicopter from Thiruvanathapuram in Kerala, Sitharaman held discussions with deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, ministers and officials.
A report from Kanyakumari said she visited some cyclone- hit areas in the district. The defence minister assured authorities all help from the Centre and told officials to take steps to mitigate the
sufferings of the people. She also heard people’s grievances. Chief Minister K Palaniswami said in Coimbatore that work to rescue fishermen was on in full swing with the Air Force,
Navy and Coast Guard deploying aircraft and ships.
