Central team to assess cyclone Ockhi loss in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 22 : A team of central officials will arrive here in Kerala on December 26 to make an assessment of the damages caused by cyclone Ockhi, officials said on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured both the beleaguered fishing community and the Kerala government of prompt relief and rehabilitation assistance.

According to informed state government sources, the central team is being led by Vipin Mallik, a top official in the Home department and consists of disaster management experts.

They are expected to go around the affected coastal villages in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts to see the damages.

Modi was here on Tuesday and visited a coastal hamlet and interacted with the fishing community and later witnessed a presentation made by the state government.

Following that, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought a Rs 7,340 crore relief package to mitigate the fisher folks' sufferings, which includes compensation for the 73 dead, assistance to permanently disabled, to those who suffered injuries besides construction of homes to those rendered homeless, educational assistance, writing off loans and other programmes meant for the overall uplift of the fisher folks in the state.