Family members of 12 missing fishermen submitted a petition to Kanniyakumari Collector M. Aravind on Saturday seeking immediate steps to start the search operation to locate their breadwinners who went missing after venturing into the sea for fishing in a mechanised boat on May 5.
According to Rev. Fr. Churchill of South Asian Fishermen Fraternity, 16 fishermen, including 12 from Kanniyakumari district and four from West Bengal, had gone for multi-day deep sea stay fishing in the boat of one Satish from Kozhicode from their base, Beypur. Following recent alert on cyclone Tauktae in the Arabian Sea, the fishermen in deep sea reached the shores.
However, these 16 fishermen, who had gone for fishing in the boat, ‘Aji Mersha,’ failed to return to any of the fishing harbours in Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra on the west coast as they apparently did not get the cyclone warning. Or their boat might have developed a technical snag and got drifted away.
“Since they had food and fuel sufficient for only 12 days, we are afraid that the fishermen may be in trouble. Hence, the Collector should take appropriate steps through the State government to search for them with the help of Indian Navy ships and helicopters,” Rev. Fr. Churchill said.
Colachel MLA J.G. Prince accompanied Fr. Churchill and the families who submitted the petition.
They have also forwarded similar petitions to Minister for Defense Rajnath Singh, Union Minister for Fisheries Giriraj, the Indian Coast Guard and Chief Ministers M.K. Stalin, Mamata Banerjee and Pinarayi Vijayan.
