A fortnight after the cyclone, there are no lists at hand of persons missing, bodies found or empty boats discovered . ``All the department has done is collect messages about bodies being found and note down dispatches from rescue agencies. I am not sure whether they have bothered to compile this information for future use,'' said an official deputed on special duty to Kutch after the cyclone.

``Understandably, Fisheries Commissioner N A Vora is still unable to give proper figures about the number of dead and missing,'' says National Boatmen's Association secretary Premji Khokri of Porbandar.

The department gathers details from port registers and creek passes, especially in Kutch, to ascertain how many boats left port. However, seven days after the disaster struck, the department had not evengone through these registers.

In fact, the lack of coordination between various government departments during the emergency made a mockery of the system. Important messages relayed by the Coast Guard or Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters were passed on to the Kutch district administration and onward to the control rooms. The control rooms simply took note of the messages and relayed back the information to the Coast Guard and other rescue agencies.

Says one rescue worker, ``Sometimes the message we sent from our boat would get relayed back to us!''

Fishing contractor Dambhai Tandel, who also plies a security boat for the Coast Guard off Jakhau, pin-pointed the fault: ``The Fisheries Department cannot provide details simply because they did not compile information on fishermen before, during, or after the cyclone.''

Surprisingly, said Tandel, the work was done by Jamnagar district collector Girish Mormu. ``After making sure that all boats that left from ports in his district had returned safely, hehelped the Kutch administration with the task.''

Members of rescue teams in Jakhau, Porbandar and Mangrol say the government officials who were rushed to Kutch had no idea of what needed to be done. ``It was only pilots of the Coast Guard or IAF who first located bodies lying at various creeks and small islets. Otherwise, neither the state government nor its agencies had any idea,'' a rescue worker said.

According to Jaleel Malik, a fisherman who took part in a rescue operation launched by the fishermen themselves, there was no effort at all either from the Fisheries Department or any State agency to rescue the stranded fishermen.

Doubts have also been raised about the department's claims that it sent several boats to rescue fishermen out at sea. An official informed that till date the department had not requisitioned any boats for the rescue measures.

Himmatbhai, a port worker, says,``You should speak to the fishermen who have returned after almost a week. They will tell you that it is not the Stategovernment which rescued them but fishing associations and fishermen, who launched their own boats for the rescue.''

While some Department officials concede that the efforts had been inadequate, Vora refuted the charges of negligence. ``It is difficult to gather details of missing boats immediately because we look after fishing on the entire State coast. We have all the figures now, and 75 boats are still missing. Hoping that they may have gone off towards Pakistan, we have deputed a team there after visas were cleared. Search and rescue was the job of the Coast Guard and Air Force and I believe they have done their bit,'' he said.