Rachol locals want migrants guarding fishing boats tested for COVID-19

NT NETWORK Margao

The villagers of  Ilha  De  Rachol  on Sunday ‘pressed’ the panic button as migrants, employed  to look after  the anchored   fishing boats  in their village were seen moving freely in the locality.

And, what perhaps unnerved the villagers  most was the fact that many of these 40 plus boats belong to the persons from Vasco, the only town in Goa with COVID 19 hotspot at Mangor Hill.

“Migrants  looking after these (anchored) fish boats here are rooming freely in the  village area. We  do not know whether they  carry  the viral infection.  The boat owners should immediately take them and screen them for the infection if they want them to be kept here,” said the locals on  Monday.  When contacted, the local panch Luis  Oliveira informed that, “the people  came to me on  Sunday, asking to do something. They are  afraid that  as many  boat owners are  from  Vasco, these  migrants employed to look after the boats may be carrying the viral infection. I  personally visited the boats that are anchored  in the  waters  opposite Gloria chapel and found a few of them in the boats. I called up  police  on Sunday, but  none came to  help us.”

He added that the people only want these migrants to be screened and tested for COVID-19 infection before they are been kept here in the  village area. 

“These boats are anchored during the  fish ban period for the  last  40 years. People of the village have never objected and had always helped the  boat owners.  It is out of the fear and  anxiety that  the villagers have objected this time,” Oliveira  explained.

Following the  villagers’  outcry, the sarpanch Fatima  Cardozo on Monday carried out the site  inspection along with the  health  officer  Dr  M  Gaonkar, and the panchayat  secretary  Nilesh  Shirodkar.

“We inspected these boats  today and found  three  persons in the boats.  We have decided to write to the  deputy collector, the  Caption of  Ports and the fisheries department for necessary action,” said  the sarpanch after the inspection on  Monday afternoon.

According to the villagers, there are nearly 40 plus fishing boats anchored in the Zuari river water at the  Ilha  De Rachol and the  boat owners  keep their crew members here to look after these boats that remain anchored here for nearly two months, the entire  fishing ban period. 

Nearly eight to ten  migrants  guard  the boats on  a rotational basis.