Officials in Pakistan alerted

The Government has also initiated efforts to send a senior official of the State Fisheries Department to Karachi to ascertain the whereabouts of 77 missing mechanised fishing boats and fishermen. The official, accompanied by two representatives of the fishermen, is leaving for Delhi tomorrow.

8220;We have requested the External Affairs Ministry to ensure that the three get a visa to visit Karachi,8221; a senior official in the Secretariate told the Express Newsline today.

State Chief Secretary L N S Mukundan yesterday faxed a letter, through the External Affairs Ministry, to the High Commission of India in Islamabad, saying that the missing boats and fishermen may have drifted away towards the Badin and Thatta ports south of Karachi keeping in view the wind velocity and direction recorded on the day the cyclone had lashed the Gulf of Kutch.

Responding to the state government8217;s plea, the External Affairs Ministry was been in constant touch with its counterpart in Pakistan and also with the High Commission of India in Islamabad. The first secretary of the Indian High Commission, who rushed to Karachi, will camp there to gather information on the missing boats and the fishermen on board.

The official said out of the 80 fishing boats, most of them reported to be missing off the Naliya coast, at least three returned safely to Porbandar today. 8220;We are hopeful the rest of the missing boats and fishermen are safe and will return soon to the Gujarat coast,8221; he said. The Government had yesterday admitted that nearly 250 fishermen along with 80 boats were feared missing.

Meanwhile, according to a report from Bhuj, 32 more bodies have been recovered. This takes the toll in last week8217;s cyclone to 97.

In another development, the Congress, based on feedback from its four-member fact-finding team which visited cyclone-hit Kutch, has alleged communal bias by the State Government in carrying out relief operations.

GPCC spokesman Jayantilal Parmar on Thursday said the team had visited 22 villages in Abdasa, Lakhpat, Nakhatrana, Nalia and Jakhau and found that the government was paying more attention to Abdasa taluka, while 8220;it was neglecting the worst-affected Lakhpat taluka because more than 60 per cent of its population belonged to the minority community8221;.

A statement alleged that in Lakhpat taluka8217;s Bekhda and Jadva villages, the Government officials had adopted a communal approach in distribution of food packets as a result of which about 500 people, including children, remained without food for over 48 hours.

It is alleged that even the Governor and Chief Minister did not visit the area.

The Congress said that even though about 110 boats with some 800 fishermen were still missing, the Government had stopped search and rescue operations. It termed the Government8217;s approach as 8220;inhuman8221;. Local party leaders arranged distribution of 20,000 food packets and later, district Congress leaders submitted a memorandum to the Governor urging him to ensure that there was no discrimination during relief operations.