A cyclonic system near the Andamans has put off the return journey of fishers from Tamil Nadu who were stuck there. Of the 260 fishers, 125 were to be brought back home on May 6 by a ship. But now that has been postponed.
The fishers have no place to go and are staying on their boats. “It has been raining here and since there is no water in the well, we bathed in the rain. Now many of us have caught cold and some seem worse,” said Selvam, a fisherman from Cuddalore. The fishers from Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Kanniyakumari, Ramanathapuram and Rameswaram had gone to work on boats belonging to owners in the Andamans.
“Only seven are boats from Kanniyakumari. We have been stuck in the boats for 45 days now without work. If the administration and owners fail to help us, we will end up dying of hunger. All of us want to come home,” said P. Veeramani of Adhiramapattinam.
An official in the Fisheries Department of Andamans and Nicobar said that only 125 persons had opted to go back home. “We had to reschedule the ship slated to leave on May 6 due to some cyclonic activity near Andamans. Very soon, a fresh date will be chosen and the fishermen will be sent back. Until that time, nobody will go hungry. Both the boat owners and the administration are providing them with rations,” said an official.
Nanjil P. Ravi of the Akhila Indhiya Meenavar Sangam, who has been trying to help the fishermen, said some owners had taken the Aadhar cards of the fishermen and were not permitting them to return. “The Tamil Nadu government must interfere and take steps to bring back all the men, including those pressured by the owners to stay there,” he added.