Hridayadasamma stood a little away from the scene of the protests by the families of the missing fishermen at Poonthura. With her were a group of women, all of them with tears welled up inside their eyes. Sixteen fishermen, including Hridayadasamma’s two sons, from their extended family had gone to the sea at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. None of them had returned even on Friday afternoon.
“The Government bodies have failed us in all respects. They did not provide our men with adequate warning of the cyclone, in advance. If they had, none of them would have gone to the sea that day. Even after they have gone missing, Coastguard and others have failed to take quick action to save them. Hundreds of our people have gone missing and no one seems to be bothered about it,” she says.
Across the district’s coast line, this was the mood on Friday, with people voicing their disappointment at the slow-moving rescue operations. Tempers frayed as family members of the missing fishermen came out in large numbers in various places.
At Poonthura, the families who were sitting inside a tent near the shore, shifted their location to the Highway near Thiruvallam, blocking traffic for a few hours.
At Valiyathura too, irate residents occupied the road near the junction, demanding immediate rescue.
At Vizhinjam harbour, the anger turned against the Coast Guard officials. People alleged that the coast guard officials are reluctant to travel to the deep sea, where many of the fishermen went missing.
“Even the five fishermen who were rescued sometime back, were picked up from the sea by local fishing vessels and not coast guard. They stay close to the coast and are scared to venture further,” said Kristhudasan, a fisherman.
With the news of more fishermen rescued from different areas coming in by evening, the angry mood in the coast eased.
