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Cyclone Ockhi : Church set to move High court over missing fishermen

Cyclone Ockhi : Church set to move High court over missing fishermen

The Latin archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram has decided to approach the high court.They are dissatisfied with the central and state governments’ efforts to find the fishermen who had gone missing after cyclone Ockhi struck the state’s coast,

Fr Eugene Parera, vicar general of the archdiocese said the state government has not been able to get the exact number of missing people. Even after repeated pleas, the government has not seriously taken up the task to find the number of people missing from each family, he said.

The government figures said 146 fishermen were still missing, whereas household surveys conducted by the parish in the respective regions have found that 241people were missing from Thiruvananthapuram alone and another 119 people were missing from Kochi.

Even though the government has been claiming that all the fishermen will be brought back, no serious efforts were being taken to find out the missing people. The church and the people of coastal areas were very much concerned over it and hence we have been forced to approach the court, said Parera.

Unrest has been brewing among the people of the coastal areas of Vizhinjam, Poonthura, Cheriyathura, Vettucaud and Puthiyatura as the families of the missing people have been staying in the churches seeking help from the church authorities. The people have complained that the government was not doing anything to bring back their men dead or alive.

Out of the bodies recovered from the sea, there were still 35 unidentified bodies in various hospitals

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