TRIVANDRUM: Hundreds of people from the fishing community marched on the streets of Kerala capital to Raj Bhavan registering their protest against “inadequate response” to Cyclone Ockhi devastation.

The powerful storm that struck on the last month end had swept away many men and their boats, crushing coastal villages of the southern parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

A defence communique said till date they had assisted or rescued 405 fishermen from the sea and recovered seven dead bodies, some of them found entangled with fishing nets in partially submerged country boats.

“The Coast Guard divers undertook the task to remove these bodies from the entwined net of capsized boats,” it said.

The search and rescue teams of the defence forces and local fishermen had brought back 42 bodies to Kerala villages, and they had lost all hope on 95 men who went in small boats to return alive.

The villagers now want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit them and see their plight for himself and order a coordinated search operation to trace the missing men.

The fishermen from the capital district under the aegis of the Latin Catholic church who staged the massive protest also demand the federal government to declare it as a national disaster.

The fishing families have been continuing their protests in the neighbouring district of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and Kerala’s Ernakulam.

The protesters, mostly wailing women waving black flags and photos of the dead and missing walked from Palayam to Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the governor representing the federal government, for two kilometres.

The slogans were demanding to bring back their men, rehabilitate survivors and adequately compensate for their losses. They brought the traffic to a standstill on the busy stretch for many hours.

“They knew about the cyclone days before it struck off our coasts, but they did not take it seriously,” said Archbishop Soosai Pakiam, addressing protesters.

“Whoever is responsible for this, we condemn it with great pain and anger. It’s a matter of grave concern that still the authorities are unable to come out with the exact number of fishermen missing in the cyclone.”

He wanted a co-ordinated effort by fisheries department, marine enforcement and coast guard to trace the missing men who had ventured into the sea on Nov.29 before the cyclone reached off southern coasts.