Kerala: CM Pinarayi Vijayan bans fishing on state coasts ahead of southwest monsoon

The Kerala government has imposed a complete fishing ban on the state coast and the southeast Arabian Sea as it expects the arrival of monsoon. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said India Meteorological Department (IMD) has informed that the southwest monsoon will arrive in state by the first week of June.

"India Meteorological Department (IMD) has informed that southwest monsoon will arrive in Kerala coast by the first week of June. The state will receive rainfall in the next five days. Fishing in Kerala coast and the southeast Arabian sea to be completely banned from midnight," Vijayan informed the media.

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Monsoon conditions favourable in Kerala

The IMD on Thursday announced that conditions are favourable in Kerala for the onset of the southwest monsoon on June 1. It also stated that the southwest monsoon has further advanced into some parts of Maldives-Comorin region, some more parts of south Bay of Bengal, remaining parts of Andaman Sea and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands.

"A low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeast and adjoining east-central Arabian Sea from May 31 to June 4, 2020. In view of this, conditions are very likely to become favourable from June 1, 2020 for the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala," the IMD said in its bulletin.

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COVID-19 cases surge in Kerala

In the biggest single-day spike, Kerala reported 84 COVID-19 cases on Thursday taking the infection tally to 1,088, while a man hailing from Telangana, who reached the state from Rajasthan and tested positive, succumbed to the virus.

The deceased had boarded the Jaipur-Thiruvananthapuram special train on May 22 and along with his family reached here without the requisite documents. The man, who was under observation and later admitted to the general hospital after he showed symptoms of the virus, died on Wednesday, a government press release said. His sample result was received on Thursday.

Chief Minister informed that "so far there has been no community spread in the state, but we cannot say it will never happen." Presently 526 people are undergoing treatment for the infection and 1.15 lakh are under observation, Pinarayi Vijayan added. Of the infected, 31 had come from abroad and 48 from other states, including 31 from Maharashtra, nine from Tamil Nadu and three from Karnataka, the Kerala CM said.

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(With agency inputs)