Panaji, Nov 17 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday demanded that the top weather department official in Goa be booked for murder for not issuing timely warnings to fishermen, 68 of whom lost their lives due to Cyclone Phyan.
They demanded the immediate removal of Goa station in-charge of the Indian Meteorological Observatory (IMO) K.V. Singh for putting the lives of thousands of fishermen at risk due to the delayed warning.

Addressing a press conference in Panaji Tuesday, Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar said the IMO officer was responsible for the deaths of 68 fishermen, who were among the several thousand fishermen to venture into the sea in absence of a timely warning by the top IMO official.

“What was the weather department doing? Did they inform government agencies like the Coast Guard or the fisheries department at all? Their warning did not come in time. There was no seriousness at all,” Parrikar said, adding that the state government should initiate an enquiry into the lapses by the IMO in Goa and fix responsibility for lapses which he claimed had resulted in the loss of 68 lives.

“Just because those who died were not Goan, but migrant workers, this issue may be swept under the carpet. But those who died were human too. The state government must get to the bottom of the matter,” he said.

More than two dozens fishing vessels registered in Goa were blown northwards 200 km off course, towards the Maharashtra coast by Cyclone Phyan last week. While several boats were rescued or managed to reach the safety of ports along the Konkan coast, at least four vessels carrying 68 fishermen sank in the storm.