Ockhi Cyclone Dec-2017 Report English

8,000,000 to Rs. 20,000,000 for each fishing boat. They generally do not get loans in
banks to buy this essential equipment. (Annexure 38 - Statement of Mr. Benedit
s/o Amirthampillai, Micaelpuram, Neerodi village)
Hence, they are forced to mortgage their houses, jewels to secure a loan to buy
boats and other equipment. Many of them take loan from individuals for high rate of
interest and it comes under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant
Interest Act, 2003.
A sample study by the preliminary fact-finding team reveals the following loss in the
village of Chinnathurai alone.
Description
Cost
Cost of repair to partial damages in boats Rs. 12,78,700/-
Cost of sunken boats Rs. 70,12,000/-
Cost of fishing net Rs. 1,94,17,800/-
Cost of engines Rs. 66,26,600/-
Other equipment & accessories Rs. 47,48,500/-
Total Rs. 5,05,91,900/-
Damages to Salt Pan
In Kovalam, Manakkudi areas of Kanyakumari district there are around 600 acres of
salt pan. Over 80% of the salt pan area is now merged in water due to Cyclone
Ockhi as the sea water entered in to the salt pan areas. As this is the time for
harvest in the salt pans, there is a huge economic loss to the owners and the
workers. The government has not taken any steps to clear the water till now. The salt
pans are worth Rs. 80,000 per acre.
There are around 200 daily wage earners working in these salt pans who are from
the marginalised community. Since there is no work for the past one month, these
labourers are suffering with no income as they are dependent only on these salt
pans for work and livelihood. There has been no assessment done by the
government regarding the damage to the salt pans.
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