TRIVANDRUM: The Indian Navy has agreed to take more fishermen on board in their search for men swept away by Cyclone Ockhi ten days back.

Following this, families of missing fishermen from Pozhiyoor, one of the 17 coastal villages bearing the brunt of casualties, ended their highway blockade at Neyyattinkara.

The villagers accuse the Indian Navy and Coast Guard sailors of not picking up bodies floating in the sea off southern Kerala, which they have denied.

The Navy agreed to take them on board a ship and helicopters engaged in its search and rescue operations, Op Sahayam.

Fishermen had joined them after last week’s visit by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman to the worst hit Vizhinjam and Poonthura villages.

They also accuse the state government of apathy, which a top official, director general of police Jacob Thomas, endorsed saying they have had got a raw deal because they were poor.

Archbishop Soosai Pakiam, who heads the Latin Catholic Church of fishermen, said they were not satisfied with the official response, and protests were the spontaneous reaction of the aggrieved people.

“We haven’t called any agitation so far,” he told reporters after a meeting with tourism minister who called on him at the Bishop’s House here for a second consecutive day seeking his help to pacify them.

“But if the apathy continues, the fishermen would be forced to go into direct action on Monday. People lose patience when their breadwinners fail to return even after ten days.” Surendran said the government was coordinating with federal defence forces efficiently on a regular basis and he hoped to rescue more people.

“They have agreed to airlift experienced fishermen from Pozhiyoor to a ship anchored five nautical miles off Vizhinjam coast early tomorrow morning,” he said. “They will go up to 75 nautical miles into the sea.” Officially, there are 260 men still missing, and 96 of them had ventured out in small and risky watercraft, whose survival without food and water at sea is remote.

“We hope those who had gone in mechanised boats would have reached shores elsewhere. But these small boat people are a cause for concern,” former chief minister Oommen Chandy said after meeting the archbishop.

Meanwhile, a naval communique said ten ships and all aircraft under the Southern Command continued searches for the tenth day “with same zeal to bring succour to fishing community and seafarers” to the extent of Maldives.

“However, no stranded boats, fishermen or floating bodies have been found (in the last 72 hours),” it said.

INS Kalpeni returned to Kochi after completing 96 hours of assisted search by six local fishers. It went up to Lakshadweep islands 150 miles to the coast of Calicut and after that Cochin.

“The search effort did not find any distressed fishing vessels or floating bodies,” it said. “Normal fishing activity has resumed in substantial strength (in northern Kerala).” INS Kabra, INS Sagardhwani and maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8I were deployed off Alappuzha coast of and south of Trivandrum, based on inputs from the State administration of floating bodies.

INS Sujata equipped with portable mobile morgue boxes sailed out from Kochi earlier in the day. Sub-collector Divya S Iyer and four local fishermen would be joining them in deep-sea search operations on Sunday.