Ockhi Cyclone Dec-2017 Report English

of liberty, enjoyment of human rights, identity, family life and citizenship; return to
one’s place of residence, restoration of employment and return of property”. In our
scheme of recommendations our effort is to make sure that we do not make
recommendations that are only humanitarian in nature but also those that respect
principles of human rights since our findings have proved that this is a case of gross
and wilful negligence of the instrumentalities of the state.
1. Joint combing operation by the marine police, coastal guard and navy
along with the fishing communities : Taking into consideration that every
private rescue efforts of the fishing community undertaken at their own costs
has lead to the rescue of several fishermen, the fact that even as late on 29 th
December there have been six boats that have set out in a rescue mission,
that the Hon’ble Minister for Defence, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman claimed in
Parliament that 400 persons are still missing, that the search and rescue
operations so far undertaken by the state and its instrumentalities have not
proven to be adequate and finally since the state is ultimately responsible to
protect the right to life of all persons, we strongly recommend that the
1.1 Combing operation to continue in five specific locations, at the same time, in a
coordinated manner so as to not leave any fisherman at sea. These five locations
are;
1.1.1 Between the west coast and Lakshadweep islands along the path of the
cyclone from a sub-marine using radar to check the submerged parts or
boats.
1.1.2. To the west of Lakshadweep islands, between Equator and to the south
of Pakistan
1.1.3. South-west of Maldives in the Indian Ocean
1.1.4. Between Maldives and Sri Lanka & Cape Comorin and Equator
1.1.5 In the uninhabited islands in Lakshadweep and Maldives.
1.2.. This joint combing operation has to be state-funded and carried out in
collaboration with the fishing community from all the affected fishing villages. The
community members must be allowed to accompany the searching teams and Naval
ships on their own fishing boats and all costs for the same must be borne by the
government. This effort must be carefully planned to ensure that there is no chance
of anyone who is not yet detected anywhere at sea or on any of the many islands in
the regions specifically identified.
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