All that Industries Minister Suresh Mehta, in charge of Kutch district, could say was, "The Government will reveal in four days how many fishermen are still missing". He added that the toll may cross the 450 mark.

Out of the 75 missing fishing boats, 26 belong to fishermen hailing from the Union Teritories of Diu and Daman, while 31 are from the Valsad district, followed by Porbandar and Mangrol (seven each), Okha (2) and Jamnagar and Veraval (one each).

Ironically, though the cyclone hit the Western Kutch coast near Naliya-Jakhau, most of its victims are reported to be from Valsad district, with as many as 292 fishermen from the South Gujarat district reported missing since the day the cyclone hit. The Kutch district suffered damage mostly in terms of private and public properties.

The Valsad fishermen usually sail to Okha and camp at Rupan village on the Dwarka coast for a good catch. Quite a substantial number had ventured out into the deep sea about a week before the cyclone hit the Western Kutch coast on May 17 and 18. And, it was too late for most of them to heed the cyclone warning and return to the coastal areas, a senior official told Express Newsline here this evening.

Earlier at a news conference, Suresh Mehta said the preliminary assessment done by various government departments put the damage caused to private and public properties at Rs 100 crore. "The government will send a detailed list of damages in a week to the Centre, requesting it to extend adequate financial assistance to Gujarat to meet the expenses".

He said that though most of the bodies recovered cannot be identified, the government would provide due compensation to kith and kin victims even if they produce "presumptive proof". They will be asked to make affidavits or produce relevant documents before the State relief machniery, Mehta said.

The government will provide compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the nearest relatives of each of the cyclone victims, which includes Rs 50,000 from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund and Rs 25,000 each from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund and the State Government. Besides, compensation ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 will be given to each of the cattle breeders who have lost their cattle in the cyclonic fury, he added.

The minister denied PCC chief C D Patel's charge that the government was biased and lethargic in providing relief to the cyclone-hit people in the State. He said it was really unfortunate that a natural tragedy was being politicised.

Meanwhile, the three-member search team despatched by the State Government reached Karachi this afternoon. The team could not reach Pakistan yesterday following the cancellation of the Malaysian airliner. The team, armed with details of the missing fishing boats and fishermen, will conduct extensive searches along the South of Karachi coastline.