AITUC urge govt. to rescue two fishermen who went missing mid-sea

All Indian Trade Union Congress – Fishermen Union urged the authorities to locate and rescue the fishermen from Pamban who have gone missing in the sea while fishing.

On Thursday night, six fishermen set out to sea in a country boat from the Pamban South Coast near Rameswaram.

In the early hours of Friday, while they were fishing in the Southern sea, Sarathkumar, a resident of the Pamban Chinnapalam fishing village, accidentally fell into the sea due to high speed winds.

Tyson, a fisherman from Periyathalai village in the Thoothukudi district, jumped into the water in an attempt to save him but was also swept away.

Despite the efforts of the other fishermen on the boat to find them, both men went missing. Upon hearing the news, fellow fishermen launched a search operation using their country boats.

C.R. Senthilvel, All India Vice-President of the AITUC Fishermen’s Union, said, “Two fishermen have gone missing while fishing. The Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy must immediately intensify search operations using helicopters and ships. As the families of the fishermen are in a state of extreme fear and distress, the Tamil Nadu government must take all necessary steps to rescue them alive.”

He further urged, on behalf of the AITUC, that the government and fishermen’s associations should jointly establish a temporary rescue and monitoring center in the Pamban area to coordinate the search efforts.

Is to be noted that the Fisheries Department had previously issued a warning advising Ramanathapuram district fishermen not to venture into the sea due to the deep depression in the Bay of Bengal, which has caused high-velocity winds.

Despite the warning, these fishermen went out, leading to the incident, said the sources.

Sources added that the high wind speeds and rough sea conditions are currently hindering the search operations by security agencies and fellow fishermen.