Visakhapatanam / Rajahmundry: Seven of the fishermen from Kakinada who had been missing at sea since the past one week are feared to have drowned when their boat capsized in the Bay of Bengal. East Godavari collector H. Arun Kumar said efforts are on to trace them.
The Indian Coast Guard has pressed into service three speedboats to search for the missing fishermen. Besides, five copters, one each of RIL, Cairn Energy and ONGC and two of the Coast Guard, had been searching the sea 140 km from the shore.
The collector said that if the worst fears come true and the bodies are not found, a state government appointed three-member committee would conduct an inquiry and provide assistance to the families.
There was some good news elsewhere when 82 fishermen from Kakinada, who have been missing for the last few days, returned to shore safely on Tuesday.
Fisheries deputy director D. Govindaiah said, “Only three boats carrying about 19 fishermen are yet to reach shore and the search is on for them.”
In the last two days, 141 fishermen reached the coast at Vizag, Srikakulam and Odisha. Of these, 13 reached Baruva coast in Srikakulam and 18 reached Puri coast in Odisha, said East Godavari fisheries department joint director M. Koteswar Rao. Mr Arun Kumar identified the missing fishermen as D. Simhadri, 40, K. Nuka Raju, 25, C. Buchi Babu, 30, G. Tata Rao, 40, A. Sattibabu, 50, K. Raju, 30, and G. Satyanarayana, 50, all from Pagadalapeta of Kakinada Rural.
