The Kerala State Government of India will award interim relief for local fishermen whose livelihoods have been impacted by the sinking of the container vessel MSC Elsa 3 off the coast of Kochi late last month.
Fishermen in the Kerala districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha and Ernakulam will each receive INR1,000 (US$11) and six kg of rice. The state government will allocate a total of INR105.5 million (US$1.23 million) drawn from its disaster response fund.
Officials in Kerala estimate that there are at least 78,000 fishing families in the four districts whose livelihoods have been impacted by the incident, which also resulted in pollution on some of the state's beaches.
At the time of the incident, MSC Elsa 3 had a cargo of 640 containers, of which 13 had hazardous cargo and 12 contained calcium carbide, a chemical compound with traces of phosphorous and arsenic. Around two dozen containers later ended up on a number of beaches in Kerala.
The state government has declared the incident a "state-specific disaster" and has advised local residents to avoid coming into contact with any of the beached containers.