Congress parliamentarian from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor on Friday accused the Navy of not picking up bodies of fishers who died in Cyclone Ockhi in the sea because it had no freezer on board to accommodate them. The navy, however, denied the charge, saying it has already picked up bodies and brought them ashore earlier.
Cyclone Ockhi that wrecked havoc from November 29 to December 6 along the coastal areas bordering the Arabian Sea killed 36 people. At least 397 fishermen are still missing.
In a series of tweets, Tharoor alleged that he met a group of angry villagers in Pozhiyoor village after a visiting state minister had “whizzed by without talking to them”.
“Spoke2 @nsitharaman about anger in fishing villages that @indiannavy not picking up bodies because they have no freezer on board to accommodate them. Distraught families in highly emotional state. This approach must change urgently while bodies still being spotted. Ice is enough!,” Tharoor tweeted.
The Indian Navy was quick to respond on the social media site, tweeting: Navy has already picked up bodies & brought them ashore earlier & will continue 2do so in ongoing #OpSahayam. State admin in process of hiring mobile mortuaries 2b given 2Navy ships&other boats 2bring bodies ashore. Fishermen also embarked on Navy ships. We've never refused any1.”
Tharoor later responded claiming that he was merely reporting what the residents of Pozhiyoor village had told him.
Most of those affected by the Cyclone in the state are poor fishermen, who make a living from the sea. The relatives of those killed and missing accused the state and central government of failing to issue early Cyclone warning, which would have prevented hundreds from venturing into the troubled waters.
The Indian Navy launched Operation Sahayam, a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief programme, involving nine ships and four types of aircraft namely P8I, Dornier, SeaKing and Chetak.
An Air Force aircraft AN 32, flying between Kozhikode-Kochi coasts sighted a fishing boat with about 15 fishermen on Thursday morning following which Navy sent a Dornier aircraft and ship to the area which is close to Lakshadweep islands, the sources said.
The fishermen said they only wanted food and water and that they would reach the shore on their own in the boat.
Meanwhile, shipping services from Kozhikode to Lakshadweep began on Thursday with around 60 passengers boarding the high speed vessel from Beypore in the morning.
On Thursday, DNA tests began on 10 bodies kept at the state-run Medical College. One body was handed over to relatives on Wednesday after the DNA test. Two bodies were recovered off Kozhikode by a joint search team and another one was found in the deep sea off Alappuzha.
Hundreds of fisherfolk staged a rail roko at Kuzhithurai station bordering Kerala, leading to Southern Railways cancelling two trains--Tiruchirapalli-Trivandrum Intercity and Kochuveli-Nagercoil passenger, besides partially cancelling five other trains.
(With PTI inputs)
