Fishermen from Kanyakumari district are angry and upset over the alleged government inaction in rescuing fishermen from this region who got caught in Cyclone Ockhi. On Friday, thousands of them were sitting on a protest at Coalchel village in the district alleging that the Tamil Nadu government was doing precious little to trace the missing fishermen.

Families of those missing fishermen continued protests at different places, including Kocalchel, which is 730 km south of Chennai. Fishermen in coastal areas also took out processions to extend support to the families of the missing fishermen.

On Thursday, members of fishermen families in Kanyakumari protested for several hours at the district’s Kuzhithurai railway station demanding prompt action in tracing the missing fishermen. Late on Thursday night, chief minister Edapaddi Palaniswami announced a solatium of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased fisherman, who lost life in the Cyclone Ockhi. The Chief Minister also announced Rs 5 lakh the fishermen who could not continue with their profession due to cyclone Ockhi.

TN fisheries minister D Jayakumar denied that the government was found wanting in rescuing the fishermen he said adding that many of them had been traced to safety in different coastal areas of Maharahstra, Gujarat and Goa.