Even as various rescue teams have managed to bring back more fishermen back to safety on a day that remained sunny, anger against the authorities continued to boil over along the district’s coastline, over alleged inaction and apathy. At the receiving end of the of the relatives of the missing fishermen were ministers and officials of the district administration.
Highway blockades were witnessed at various places including Eenchakkal junction and near Shanghumukham. District Administration officials pacified One of the major demands of the protesters everywhere has been the inclusion of the local people in the rescue teams.
Right from the first day of the rescue efforts in the aftermath of the cyclonic storm Ockhi, the people in the fishing village have been raising this demand, citing their traditional knowledge of the sea and familiarity with the usual fishing spots, beyond 50 nautical miles. Another demand of the fishermen is the setting up of control rooms at various points along the coast, with a streamlined information connect between all of them.
With the sea remaining relatively calm on Sunday, several groups of fishermen set off from various places along the district’s coast in search of their friends and family members. Around 70 such boats are estimated to have left the coast from Vizhinjam, Adimalathura and Poonthura. Some of these boats managed to bring back missing fishermen.
Forty eight of the rescued men are currently undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital, out of which five were admitted on Sunday. They have been identified as Zacharias (55) , Kristhudas (48), Selvakurish (35) and Michael (58) from Adimalathura and Anthony (30) from Kollamkode.
Eight were brought dead, two of whom were from Poonthura, four from Vizhinjam and two from Valiyathura. Most of the bodies were in putrefied state. Thirteen of the bodies currently at the Medical College mortuary are unidentified.
