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212 AP fishermen still missing
Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad |
December 27, 2004 17:40 IST
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy on Monday said that the number of missing fishermen in the state was only 212.
Meanwhile, the toll due to the killer waves that struck the state's coast on Sunday rose to 77.
Reddy, who visited the affected areas of Nellore and West Godavari districts to oversee relief operations, said about 40,000 families, evacuated from low-lying and vulnerable villages in six coastal districts, had been lodged in 67 relief camps.
Each affected family was provided with 25 kg of free rice.
In a letter to President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Dr Reddy pointed out that deaths occurred in six out of nine coastal districts struck by the tidal waves.
The toll rose to 77 on Monday morning, with Prakasam accounting for 27 deaths, followed by Krishna 26, Nellore 10, West Godavari 8, East Godavari 4 and Guntur 2.
The CM said that 212 fishermen were still missing, including 65 from Guntur, 60 from Prakasam, 55 from East Godavari, 25 from Nellore and 7 from Krishna district.
The government has requisitioned the help of the Indian Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard to search for bodies and hunt for fishermen stranded in the high seas.
He said loss of property was yet to be assessed. However, the relief operations would go on briskly at all the affected villages. Medical teams were already pressed into action, he said.
Ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 lakh each was announced for families that lost a bread-winner and Rs 50,000 for others.
"While flying over the coastal villages, I witnessed dead bodies floating in the sea, heaps of bodies on the seashore and frightened fishermen desperately searching for their beloved ones," he told the President.
He said that Manginapudi beach in Krishna district and coastal villages in Singarayakonda and Vetapalem mandals in Prakasam district were the worst-affected.
Most of the casualties occurred in these two districts.
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