Four days of suffering, say sailors’ families

Visakhapatnam:  Around 2,000 families at the Navy sailors’ quarters of 104 area staged a dharna at the quarters’ entrance demanding immediate relief works for them.

They alleged that since they were sailors, officers have been neglecting them in providing relief. An eyewitness, who took part in the protest, said that several women led the protest.

“We are almost 2,000 families here, suffering since the last four days and no one has bothered to take care of us. Now these officers have come to us only after we protested. There is no water available for us to buy. Since we are sailors they have just ignored us,” a sailor who took part in the protest said.

After heated arguments between officials and irate members of the sailors’ families, the angry protestors even tried to overturn an officer’s vehicle. The irate sailors were finally pacified by some officers.