Impact of the cylone of November 1978 on fishing activities at Rameswaram

Abstract

Rameswaram Island is located in the south east coast of Tamil Nadu lying in between the Indian main land and Sri Lanka and bounded by Palk Bay on the north and the Gulf of Mannar on the southThe cyclone lasted for about 12 hours starting from noon. It was very intense for about 2 1/2 hours between 5 and 7.30 P.M. The velocity of the wind was about 120 km per hour. In the beginning of January 1979 considerable progress in fishing activities was observed with about 300 boats going out for fishing. The boats that got damaged during cyclone period were attended to by a heavy influx of carpenters, mechanics and other labour force from the mainland. This has accelerated the repair works and improved the fishing activities within a short period and as stated earlier, by the end of March '79 the fishing activities in the island have been restored.