Fishermen in the state will be equipped with satellite phones and NavIC satellite navigation sets soon. The state cabinet on Tuesday approved Rs 25.36 crore project for this purpose. With this, a total of 1000 fishermen will be equipped with satellite phones. The government has allotted Rs 9.43 crore to purchase satellite phones. Once the fishermen gets equipped with satellite phone, the officials will be able to communicate with the fishermen who venture into the deep sea. It will ease the rescue operation if the fishermen gets stranded on sea during bad weather conditions. The state government is implementing the project in association with BSNL. A satellite phone costs Rs 94, 261. At the same time, each fisherman has to pay an amount of Rs 1500 as consumer share. Meanwhile, NavIC equipment will be fitted to 15,000 fishing boats. With a coverage of 1,500 km from the coast, NavIC will warn fishermen about weather conditions and provide information about international boundaries and potential fishing zones. NavIC sets are designed by ISRO and manufactured by KELTRON. An expenditure of Rs 15.93 crore is estimated to manufacture 15,000 sets. It is observed that NavIC is useful to ease the rescue operation and check accidents during fishing. Satellite phones and NavIC sets will be distributed to 15,000 selected fishermen who venture into sea far from 12 nautical miles from the coast. Fishermen from 12 coastal districts will get the benefit. According to the government, Rs 25.36 crore for the project will be allotted from Ockhi cyclone relief fund in Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund. At the same time, Rs 1.78 crore will be allotted to give compensation to 89 fishermen who lost fishing equipment when Ockhi cyclone ravaged the coastal areas. A compensation of Rs 22.52 lakh will be given to 113 non registered fishing units. The fishing boats eligible for the allowance should register under fisheries department. The cabinet also approved a project worth Rs 610 lakh to purchase life jackets to fishermen. Each fisherman has to contribute Rs 250 for this. Mehamood, a native of Kozhikode, who lost his fishing equipment in Ockhi disaster, will get Rs 1.48 lakh as compensation. The cabinet made the announcement as his name was not included in the list of compensation published earlier.