2 fishermen drown in two days

Kanyakumari: The death of two fishermen at the entrance of the Thengapattanam fishing harbor in the last few days has triggered protest by the fishermen on Saturday urging the government to desilt the approach to the harbour and to reconstruct breakwater at the entrance to ensure that waves are not formed.

On Thursday evening, fisherman S Antony, 68, of Mulloorthurai village and his son were returning to the harbour at around 5.30 pm after a day-long fishing when their catamaran was tossed by the waves in the Arabian Sea at the entrance of the harbour that were two to five meters high. Fishermen launched a search for the missing but he could not be traced. Antony’s son, however, reached safety.

Meanwhile, on Friday, a fibre boat with five fishermen was tossed by the waves. “Fishermen Shibu, Justin, George, Ouseph and Johnpaul were injured and the boat was damaged. Shibu, 25, was injured and his friends tried to hold him, but in vain,” said P Dickson of Meenavar Orunginaipu Sangam (MOS).

His friends watched him drown from the breakwater on either side of the harbour’s entrance. “The men were tired after a long day in the rough sea and could not swim back to safety under such conditions,” MOS general secretary Anto Lenin said. Search for the bodies continued on Saturday as well.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, various fishermen bodies including South Asian Fishermen Fraternity (SAFF) staged a protest demanding the desilting of the harbour for a stretch of nearly 500 meters and for a depth of three meters as the sand deposits are reason for the formation of waves. SAFF general secretary Churchil said that the wrong design of the breakwater is the reason for sand being deposited at the entrance.


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