Fishermen to Gherao Kadamba Naval Base to Trace Missing Boat and Fishermen
Udupi: The fishermen community is planning to gherao the office of the Kadamba Naval Base Karwar and also the Chief Minister’s residence for failing to trace the fishing boat, Suvarna Tribhuja and seven fishermen on board, which went missing off the coast of Goa on December 15.
On February 16, the president of Malpe Fishermen’s Association Sathish Kundar met the Superintendent of Police Laxman Nimbargi and discussed the developments of the search operations.
Later speaking to the mediapersons Sathish Kundar said, “Since December 15, the boat Suvarna Tribhuja has gone missing. But neither the state nor the union government is bothered to find the missing boat along with seven fishermen on board. There is a suspicion that the boat had met with an accident. In this regard, the Navy had taken up the search operations in the area near Sindhudurg in Maharashtra using sonar technology to check if Suvarna Tribhuja had sunk”.
Sathish further said, “It is suspected that an incident had occurred on December 15 between 2:00 to 6:00 am at Malwan. The Navy ship INS Kochi was damaged on the same day and time but what actually happened is not very clear. Later the Navy team checked with the fishermen in the area if there was any boat accident in Malvan between 2 to 6 am. A few weeks ago when the Navy Ships Satlej and Neerkshak conducted the search operations using SONAR, they traced 23-meter-long debris in the sea which was not related to Suvarna Thribhuja but was just a Rock. The Navy has also used 3D mapping in the Malwan region which will give a clear picture. Recently fishermen found the cabin of a boat which has also been confirmed by them not belonging to Suvarna Tribhuja. The Navy also denied that their boat had crashed with Suvarna Thribhuja, which led to further doubts about the accident”.
Sathish also said, “It is almost 64 days since the boat went missing but the Navy has failed to come to a conclusion. Today we have all met our SP and discussed the latest developments in the search operations. SP Laxman Nimbargi has clarified that the search operations are beyond the control of the police.”
Nearly 50000 fishermen from three districts had protested to pressurize the government, but unfortunately, the government has neglected the fishermen. We have now decided to submit a memorandum to the Union Defense minister to form an inquiry committee including Navy, Army, Civil Police, Coast Guards, Coastal Security police and the local fishermen to find out the missing boat along with the 7 fishermen. If the Union government fails to form the committee we will gherao the office of the Kadamba Naval Base Karwar and the Chief Minister’s residence, he said.