TIRUNELVELI
While there is no information about 34 mechanised boats from Kanniyakumari district which had ventured for deep sea fishing well ahead of the low pressure warning, a boat from the district is reportedly stranded near Karwar in Karnataka as it accidentally hit a submerged rock.
According to Rev. Fr. Churchill, general secretary, South Asian Fishermen Fraternity, a mechanised boat from Kurumpanai in the district, which had ventured into the sea from Beippur in Kerala for deep sea fishing with 12 crews including 4 north Indians, was stranded 13 nautical miles from Murudeswaram coast near Karwar in Karnataka.
“When the kerosene stove in the boat burst accidentally even as the boat was on high seas, three fishermen sustained burns and they returned to the shores. As the boat stranded after hitting a submerged rock near Murudeswaram, the Tamil Nadu Government should take steps to retrieve the fishermen, particularly the fishermen with burns, and the boat,” Rev. Fr. Churchill said.
While most of the 300-odd boats from the district had been contacted either by the official machinery or by the fishermen through the communication gadgets they have, there was no information about 34 boats as these mechanised crafts are reportedly beyond 500 nautical miles.
“Though we’re urging the governments for providing the mechanised boats involved in deep sea fishing with high-power communication gadgets like satellite phones since Cyclone Okchi, no decision has been taken so far in this direction. Now, our people are facing yet another threat,” Fr. Churchill said.
