Madurai: Stating that the search carried out to trace the fishermen who lost in the sea during Ockhi Cyclone was inadequate, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on Friday demand the Central government to use the powers under the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to extend the search in to the deep sea areas.
The “EEZ is a sea zone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles (nmi) from its coast,” said Gana. Krumji, State President of PUCL.
Hence, it urged that the government should carry out the search activities by using all its technological and political power. However, in this case, “we feel the use of technology is found very less when compared to other countries,’ he said.
“From the reliable sources it is understood that there are hundreds of dead bodies floating in the deep sea zone. PUCL demands the government to secure those dead bodies and bring them back to the shore for identification, claimed Murali, state secretary, PUCL. “PUCL apprehends that the government is hesitating to carry out this task due to political reasons. The number of dead persons needs to be assessed and announced not bothering about any political gains or losses by both the governments,” he said.
As the damages and losses caused by the Ockhi cyclone cannot be immediately assessed, keeping the available data and observable loses of human lives, the central government should declare this as a National Disaster, said Murali, adding, that the disaster management should be carried out immediately. “Though government may find it difficult to declare it as National disaster for want of more details to fulfill the norms prescribed, this particular drastic occurrence must be considered as a special case,” he said.
