Boat damaged in cyclone

KOCHI: A canoe berthed at the Chellanam Harbour was heavily damaged in a cyclone attack on Tuesday. The incident was similar to the one that occurred last October when two inboard vessels suffered damage in Chellanam owing to heavy winds. The incident took place at 6.30 pm when a cyclone hit the coast and the boat was lifted off the water and tossed down. “It came all of a sudden.But only this particular boat suffered damage.The cyclone then moved in the eastern direction.If it had moved to the coast there would have been heavy damage,” said O F Sebastian, an eyewitness.The boat belonged to Nelson Theyil, a resident of Chellanam.The canoe is uninsured and the chances of getting government help on the grounds of natural disaster is remote, said Chellanam panchayat president K P Thankachan.“In last year’s incident too the boats were uninsured and it was only after a lot of prompting that we succeeded in getting some relief to the families.At that time, the Chief Minister had categorically said that the government will not be able to pay for uninsured boats.If it pays for one it will have to pay for all such boats in the state.Moreover, there are chances of people taking advantage of the situation.So this time around the chances of damage are very remote,” he said.