9,000 fishermen booked in Kanniyakumari for staging protest

Thousands of fishermen who were caught in cyclone ‘Ockhi’ took shelter in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and also in uninhabited islands in Lakashadweep. Many were rescued too.

However, fishermen and their kin had staged protests in various parts of Kanniyakumari district. Recently, around 5,000 fishermen staged a rail roko in the Kuzhithurai railway station for nearly 13 hours.

Unexpectedly, the Nagercoil railway police booked all 5,000 fishermen for staging rail roko. The fishermen were shocked and they condemned the case filed against them. Nearly 4000 of them were booked for staging protests and road rokos without obtaining proper permission. Unfazed by all these, the fishers still continue the protests.

At Chinnathurai village, more than 500 persons demanded immediate rescue of fishermen. This is the second day of protest at Chinnathurai.

Protest was witnessed at Muttam coastal village in which people of eight coastal villages participated.

They stood in the sea and protested against the state and central governments.

Music Director GV Prakash and actor Aari, participated in the protest and said that they would stand by the fishermen in their endeavour.

They demanded the government to use drones to find the missing fishermen. At Pallam coastal village, fishermen protested by forming a human chain. Similar protests were witnessed at the Kooduthazhai coastal village in Thoothukudi district. At Thangachimadam in Ramanathapuram district, fishermen paid homage to the deceased by holding candles.

In the meantime, Kanniyakumari Collector, Sajjan Singh R Chavan said that 462 fishermen in 56 boats are yet to be traced. He said that there is no information about 35 fishermen who had left in 13 country boats and 427 fishermen in 43 mechanised boats.

However, fishermen claim that more than 500 fishermen bodies are floating in the sea and the government refuses to accept the total number of deceased fishermen