Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Ockhi affected areas in Lakshadweep, Kanyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
At Thiruvananthapuram, he visited the fishing village of Poonthura. He spent about 10 minutes with the affected by the cyclonic storm. The PM was seen listening to them patiently.
"I am here to assure you that India stands shoulder to shoulder with all those affected by Cyclone Ockhi. We will leave no stone unturned in the rescue and relief operations," Modi said to the gathering.
Modi said search operations to trace the missing fishermen in Kerala and Tamil Nadu would continue and expressed hope that all of them would come back home before Christmas.
But immediately after the PM left people complained that he did not interact with them. Many were holding the photographs of their loved ones and said there was no information available.
A fisherman whose father is missing said, “We waited for about 5 to 6 hours to see the PM. We thought he will interact with us and give us some solution but that did not happen. There is no information about my father since November 29. At least bring his body back to us, we want to do his last rites.”
A family member of another missing fishermen said, “When we heard that the PM is coming we thought he will announce some relief package for us. We thought he will listen to us, but we could not speak to him.”
Modi held high-level discussions with the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the administration of the union territory of Lakshadweep and reviewed the situation post-Ockhi.
During the meetings, both Tamil Nadu and Kerala demanded a special financial package from the Centre to tide over the destruction caused by the natural calamity and wanted the cyclone to be declared as a national disaster.
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