‘Pedi’, ‘bhayam’ — words that articulate a sense of fear that has gripped the people ever since Cyclone Ockhi devastated their lives echo around in conversations along the coastline, drowning out the names of fishes and their prices that usually rent the air here. It’s a fear expressed equally, but in different ways, by those who put out to sea, and those who wait for them back home.
In Vizhinjam, the few women who have gathered to sell the meagre catch on Friday morning say there are more boats in the harbour than at sea.
Those who put out to sea have not overcome their fear of the waves and the wind. But they have to keep the wolf from the door.
“Before the cyclone, we used to go up to even 70 km into the sea. But now we have limited it to about 18 km, just enough for us to get a decent catch and hurry back home,” says Xavier, a fisherman.
Even their lives are battered
Compounding their fears are the warnings from the India Meteorology Department, which, they say, have increased in frequency.
“The warning to fishermen is usually relayed to the church, from where the announcement is made over a public address system. As you know, fishermen were not warned on the day when the cyclone was about to hit. Now, to make up for it, there are so many frequent warnings that it does not help us at all,” says Leon, a fisherman.
If this is the case of fishermen who have mustered up the courage to put to sea, there are quite a few others who have not left their homes, ever since they got back, battered and bruised by the waves. The physical wounds have healed, but the mental trauma, of having seen gigantic waves crashing down on them, of having barely survived after a near-death experience are not so easily overcome. Men like Sahayam still find it hard to even think about going fishing again.
As per estimates of the Fisheries Department, over 80 fishing boats and their equipment were fully damaged in the cyclone, while close to 200 fishing boats were partially damaged.
For the women fish vendors, the dwindling returns from sales coupled with the fact that the menfolk are out of work have come as a double whammy.
“A lot of people have stopped buying fish out of fear that the fishes may have consumed the flesh of people who have gone missing in the sea. It’s a baseless rumour that somebody had spread and now many believe it. The prices have also fallen,” says Nirmala, from Mukkola.
Earlier this month, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan disbursed compensation of ₹22 lakh each to the families of the fishermen who were killed in the sea in the aftermath of Ockhi.
Considering the plight of those who lost their livelihood, the Fisheries Department had announced four instalments of ₹2,000 each for registered fish workers. A majority of them at Vizhinjam, Poonthura and Vettukad claim to have got the first instalment, but not the next three yet.
Missing fishermen
Uncertainty still looms large in households in which people are missing. A total of 103 persons are reportedly still missing from the district’s coasts. There is hope and frustration in equal measure in these households. Hope, that their loved ones are safe in some other corner of the world, where the winds have taken them. And, frustration, at being deprived of compensation.
“In my extended family, five people went missing at sea. One came back. The other four are still missing. The government tells us that we will get compensation for those who are missing only after seven years. When the officials tell us that they may have reached alive at some other far-off place and might be facing difficulties to return, it does give us hope,” says Delby from Poonthura.
The family of Shibu from Vettukad had also lived with such hopes, until his body was identified in a mortuary in Kozhikode, ten days ago. His younger brother Milton, who had a narrow escape from the cyclone, has already started putting out to sea, as staying away from it is not an option, as there are children to be fed.
“His body was recovered on December 17 and was being kept in the mortuary. It was identified only ten days ago using DNA samples. The head and part of the arms and legs were missing,” says Milton.
For those like Milton who have returned to the sea, knowing well the risks that await them, all hope now rests on the cyclone warnings being more effective and accurate, and of the government delivering on the promises of equipment to ensure safety.
Communication network
“All the boats here have GPS. But it is useless, if you do not have a way to communicate with land. The mobile phones are ineffective beyond 9 km into the sea. The government has promised us walkie-talkies, which have a longer range. We have no other choice but to continue to fish, the only thing that we know. With a little help from the government, we could do it without much to fear,” says Milton.
