Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly 1,000 fishermen from the coastal villages in Kanyakumari district are yet to return home after the cyclone struck. The people of Vallavilai have been anxiously waiting for the return of 352 fishermen who had ventured into the sea in 31 mechanised boats. Father Peter Darwin, parish priest at Vallavilai, which is some 38 km from Vellayambalam, told DC that the fishermen had gone 120-150 nautical miles further from Manjappara near Minicoy island in Lakshadweep.
From the neighbouring coastal villages of Neerodi, Marthandanthurai, Eraviputhanthurai, Chinnathurai, Thoothor, Poothurai and Erayumanthurai, 52 boats with 661 fishermen are missing, as per the statistics. Union defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had rushed to Kanyakumari district on Sunday after landing at Thiruvananthapuram Air Force base. The local district administration and the parish council which comes under the Latin Catholic Bishop’s House at Vellayambalam here headed by Archbishop Soosa Pakiam had informed the Tamil Nadu government about the missing fishermen.
“The fishermen from Vallavilai go in mechanised boats as far as 300 km (150 – 300 nautical miles) from Manjappara to catch shark and tuna through hook. Under normal circumstances, these fishermen are in the deep sea for 40–50 days at a stretch and currently 352 people are missing from Vallavilai alone,” said Fr. Darwin who has been serving at Vallavilai for the last 19 months.
Father Darwin, who was previously based in Rome, also informed that the fishermen had lost their wireless sets in the cyclone. Earlier, the Coast Guard had warned them against encroaching on the international coastline. Apart from Ms Sitharaman, other prominent leaders who have visited the area include Tamil Nadu Congress leader S. Thirunavukkarasar, Opposition Leader M. K. Stalin of the DMK and MDMK general secretary Vaiko as well as over half a dozen bureaucrats of Tamil Nadu.
Fr. Darwin also told DC that the Tamil Nadu government had entrusted Kanyakumari District Sessions and Principal Judge John R.D. Santhosham to take stock of the situation. He met the parishioners at Vallavilai on Wednesday and listened to the family members of the missing fishermen in the parish.
