Date:29/10/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/10/29/stories/2005102921170800.htm

Tamil Nadu - Others

Six fishermen rescued after three days in sea

Special Correspondent

Their boat was found anchored five nautical miles off the shore

VILLUPURAM: Six fishermen who went missing since Wednesday off Bammiyarpalayam in Villupuram district were traced on Friday.

They were found exhausted because of their exposure to strong and cold wind and for want of food and water.

Collector Ka. Balachandran had even readied the Coast Guard to conduct an aerial survey to locate them. Since the local fishermen had volunteered to venture into the sea by a trawler, the administration abandoned the idea and gave Rs. 8,000 to the fishermen towards fuel cost.

The fishermen, Bhaskaran (26), Anjapuli (22), Rahman (20), Vasanthamani (21), Paramasivam (23), and Rajali (23), were found in a precarious condition on the boat anchored five nautical miles off the shore.

The fellow fishermen were trying to set sail on mechanised boats to bail out the stranded ones, but they could not because of strong gale and heavy rain. The heavy discharge of water from the Sathanur dam into the Then Pennaiyar caused the sea to be extremely rough near the coast.

K. Gopal (28) and P. Ezhumalai (32), two fishermen in the rescue team, told The Hindu that all the six fishermen could not even speak.

They were shivering and starving for days. It took three hours for the trawler to tow the boat to the shore.

The fishermen told the rescuers that at 3 a.m. on Wednesday they set out for fishing. As the sea was rough, the engine failed. Six other boats, fearing trouble, returned to the coast. Using the nets as ropes, the fishermen anchored their boat.

They were taken to the Pondicherry Government Hospital. Mr. Balachandran, has written to the Government, recommending a relief Rs. 2 lakhs to repair their boat and nets.