Cyclone Ockhi: Central team of disaster management experts to visit Kanyakumari on Thursday to assess damages

Kanyakumari: A four-member central team will visit the Ockhi-affected areas in the district and assess the damage caused by the cyclone, which hit the state coast last month.

The central team led by senior IAS officer Bibin Mallik would also hold discussions with the District Collector Sajjan Singh R Chavan and Revenue officials before submitting its report to the Centre.

The team is currently taking stock of the damage in neighbouring Kerala.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, during his visit to the state, had assured both the beleaguered fishing community and the Kerala government of prompt relief and rehabilitation assistance.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought a Rs 7,340-crore relief package to mitigate the fisher folks’ sufferings.

It included compensation for the dead; assistance to the permanently disabled and those who suffered injuries; also for construction of homes; educational assistance; writing off loans and other programmes meant for the overall relief for the fisher folks in the state.