Chennai: They call it a mock security drill. But the loss for fisherman Kalaiarasu's family was real. What Kalaiarasu and his son Arun Kumar, two fisherman from Royapuram, lost in that mock drill 20 months back was their one and only fibre fishing boat. The boat, taken from them for operation 'Hamla', sank during the drill in September 2015.
Kalaiarasu is still begging for the mercy of Fisheries department, which took the boat on rent in the name of the drill. “They said they would arrange a boat for us. But for the last 20 months nothing has moved. We are now jobless. We occasionally go in others’ boat or in a catamaran for fishing. We will have to depend on others for daily work. In between we have to go and meet officials at the Fisheries department. But nothing has happened so far. That is why we approached K. Bharathi of south Indian fishermen welfare association, who is also helping us,” said Kalaiarasu.
According to Kalaiarasu, on the night of September 12, 2015 when the boat carrying a Coast Guard team (who posed as militants) was being chased by police during the Operation Hamla drill, the boat overturned due to bad weather and sank in the sea. Operation Hamla is a drill carried out by state and central agencies to test the preparedness of state to guard against possible infiltration via sea into Tamil Nadu.
The diesel-powered boat, which was purchased by the family in 2013, was registered in the name of Arun Kumar. “We are really struggling. Fisheries Department's promise is yet to become a reality”, said Arun. Though the fisheries department has been promising to get a boat for the family till now nothing has happened and the agencies had conducted at least two more such mock drills.
When contacted, and officer from Coastal Security Group, the unit of Tamil Nadu police, which is in charge of marine security of the state and coordinates the security drill, said the issue was never brought to their notice. “We will also look into the issue and try to find a solution,” the officer added.
