Coastal Areas to Skip New Year Festivities

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
One thousand clay lamps and 1,000 candles will be lit in Kovalam on December 31 evening to pay homage to the victims of the cyclone Ockhi.
The government has decided to avoid New Year celebrations in the coasts in view of the cyclone. On Friday, which marked a month of the disaster, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran announced the government will offer its full support to the coastal communities that are yet to come out of the tragedy. He will light the first lamp on the last evening of the year. The yearly celebrations to welcome the New Year will be avoided in the coastal areas this time, the minister said.