Through a written statement prepared in connection with the Cyclone Ockhi which inflicted serious injuries on the lives of tens of thousands of people who were living in the coastal regions of the southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the Indian defence minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has informed the lower house that at least 661 fishermen are still missing.
In the statement, the minister has claimed that the rescue operators have saved the lives of at least 845 lives.
The Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard actively participated in the rescue operation, the minister has told to the members of the Lok Sabha.
According to the statement presented before the lower house, the preponderance of the untraceable fishermen are from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As per the report, at least four hundred and fifty three fishermen are still missing in Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, Kerala stands in the second position in terms of the total number of untraceable fishermen, with nearly three hundred and sixty two untraceable.
It is learned that the centre has constituted a special team to evaluate the damages caused by the disastrous cyclone in the southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The team is presently visiting the disaster hit regions to evaluate the impact of the ferocious cyclone and to take all the relevant information from the district and state administrators.
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright
