Kochi: The ill-fated boat Carmel Matha had 10 fishermen from the same village of Vaniyakudi near Kolachal in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. But all of them were lucky to escape the accident.
Those who escaped the mishap from the village are Ernest (35), Davis (34), Merlyn (26), Antony (26), Nelson (27), Pratheesh (28), Andrew (42), Britto (24) Armstrong (22) and Kurishu Michael (45). Some of them are undergoing treatment at Fort Kochi Government Taluk Hospital while some are admitted to a private hospital in Kochi.
One of the fishermen, Britto said that currently over 2000 people from Vaniyakkudi village alone are engaged in fishing in Kochi seawaters while 250 people from the village own fishing boats in Kochi. This is one of the mainstays of the livelihood of the villagers.
“We are not able to go for fishing in our native area as the sea is very rough there, the coast there is having a rocky formation and there is no harbor also.
That why we chose to come to Kochi to do fishing. Once in a while we go home and have temporary accommodation here near the Cochin Port and in Fort Kochi,” said Britto who is yet to recover from the shock of the hit and horrifying moments in the sea after the accident and is nursing his wounds on the legs at the Fort Kochi hospital. He said that two relatives had left the village for Kochi after learning about the accident.
They are still not sure the port proposal at Kolachal will materialize due to its geographical peculiarities. “More and more people are coming from our village and Kolachal side to Kochi for fishing now,” he says.
According to Simon, a native of Fort Kochi, more and more migrant labourers are replacing Malayalees as fish workers because of two reasons.
“Malayalees are now not interested in braving sea in fishing boats. Those who venture, are not keen on spending a few days in the sea and return a good catch. The migrant workers are just opposite,” he said pointing to the rush of migrant labourers in the sector. All 14 fishermen in the capsized boat Carmel Matha were migrant labourers.
