At least seven fishermen were killed and fishing boats with 100 men were missing in the Arabian Sea after Cyclone Phyan hit India"s western coastal region, dpa quoted a news report as saying today. The Indian Coast Guard was carrying out search and rescue operations for the missing fishermen on Maharashtra state"s 760-kilometre Konkan coastal region, the IANS news agency reported. The cyclone weakened into a tropical storm as it crossed the coast late Wednesday afternoon dumping heavy rains and packing winds with speeds up to 85 kilometres per hour. State administration official JM Virkar told the IANS that seven fishermen had died and 14 locals were injured in the Ratnagiri district that bore the brunt before the cyclone fizzled out. A total of 7,575 homes were partly damaged and 96 destroyed as the storm lashed the district, the official said. Power supply was also hit as hundreds of electric poles were uprooted or blown away. "In many areas, large trees were uprooted and fell on either the national and state highways or district roads, making it difficult to rush relief and rescue teams," the official told IANS. Seventeen boats with 100 men were missing off Ratnagiri and its neighbouring Sindhudurg district. Scores of fishermen were likely to be unemployed as nearly 300 boats and 2,000 fishing nets were damaged. Thousands of families who lost their homes were accommodated in temporary shelters in government buildings and schools. Homes and schools were also damaged and destroyed in the Raigadh district, adjoining state capital Mumbai. Rice crops and fruit orchards were also destroyed over large swathes in the region. State officials have assessed preliminary estimates of damage caused by the cyclone to property, agriculture and horticulture at 2 billion rupees (43 million dollars).
