Continue search for fishermen, boat until they are found: Chief secretary

Mangaluru: The search for missing fishermen and the Suvarna Tribhuja boat will have to be continued until they are found, ordered chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar.
Chairing a high-level meeting at Udupi on Thursday, Vijay Bhaskar has asked all government bodies, which are conducting search operations for the missing fishermen and boat, not to abort the search until the boat and fishermen are found.

It was chaired by officials from the Navy, Coast Guard, Coastal Police Security, police heads and deputy commissioners from three districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada.

During the meeting, Vijay Bhaskar, went through all the reports related to the search operations. He also asked to look into details about damage caused to the Navy boat, and conduct an inquiry into the same.

Meanwhile, he also said that the government has accessed the fishing boat photos taken by Isro, between December 15 to 16, at Malwan in Maharashtra. “We have to now carefully examine whether the missing Suvarna Tribhuja boat was anchored at the port or not,” he added.

Navy officials informed that usually search operations conducted using ships and helicopters end after 72 hours. However, due to a request from the ministry of defence, a search is still on.

The Suvarna Tribhuja fishing boat with seven fishermen on board, went missing off the Goa coast on December 13.

Issue in use of ports of other states

Earlier, fishermen from the state had alleged that whenever they go near Goa and Maharashtra for fishing, they are denied entry into the ports there during emergency situations. If a boat breaks down, or crew members face health issues, they have to return to Malpe.

Vijay Bhaskar said the government will write a letter to the chief secretaries of Goa and Maharashtra in this regard.

The wait gets longer

With more than a month having passed since the disappearance, the families of missing fishermen in Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts are growing anxious day by day. “We are anxious about what happened to our brother, who went missing a month ago. Our family has not been informed about what is the outcome of the search operations,” said a family member of one the missing fishermen from the Suvarna Tribhuja boat.

The fishermen who went missing are boat owner Chandrasekar Kotian, 42, a resident of Badanidiyooru, his neighbour Damodar Salian, 40, Laxman, 45, Satish, 35, residents of Kumta in Uttara Kannada; Harish, 23, Ramesh, 30, residents of Bhatkal and Ravi Mankey,27, from Honnavar.