THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It would be six months on Wednesday since Mercy Anthony of Adimalathura in Thiruvananthapuram and Jessi of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu were widowed by cyclone Ockhi. Jessi has settled most of the debts and started a new life with the first installment of Rs 20 lakh that was granted to her by the Tamil Nadu Government. On the Kerala side of the border, Ms Anthony is still debt-ridden. She gets only Rs 13,800 interest per month from the Rs 20 lakh that the Kerala Gove-rnment has deposited in the treasury. Ms Anthony has to support four children and provide for her husband’s elderly parents.
“Our financiers knock at the door over the loans we took for our partially completed house and fishing gear which was lost. One day announcements on media said that Adani gave us '5 lakh. Financiers came knocking on the door. Actually, we have not received anything of the sort. The Rs 20 lakh in the bank cannot be used,” Mercy Anthony said. On the other hand, Jessi has settled most of the Rs 15 lakh debt taken by her husband to buy a boat. The '60 lakh boat he co-owned capsized along with the crew during the cyclone. She now fends for her two children by working in the tailoring, umbrella and notebook unit started for widows by the local parish. “I got Rs 10 lakh from the Tamil Nadu government and settled most of the debts. They will now give another Rs 10 lakh,” she said thanking her government and the church.
Most of those who lost their boats during cyclone Ockhi were yet to be reimbursed in Kerala. An announcement was made recently that the State Govern-ment had released '83 lakh for 19 missing vessels from Vizhinjam. However, beneficiaries said they were yet to receive it. Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma was not available for a comment. Revenue officials said that the money was not being released at once to avoid squandering and future quarrels on the money.
