Search till the boat is found: Chief Secretary’s order

Malpe: The various departments have been ordered by the state government’s chief secretary T M Vijayabhaskar to keep searching for the missing fishermen and the deep sea trawler until they are found.

He gave the order on Thursday at the meeting held at the Vidhana Soudha regarding the coastal security and the mysterious disappearance of seven fishermen along with their deep sea trawler. The meeting was attended by the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Police superintendent of the three coastal districts, deputy commissioners and fishermen. During the meeting he inspected all the reports of all the operations conducted by the departments in this connection.

It came to light that on Dec 15, a ship of the Indian Navy suffered damage while sailing from Kochi towards Maharashtra, hence Vijayabhasakar asked that an investigation be conducted and a report be sent to him.

There is a report that ISRO has sent satellite images dated Dec 15^th and 16^th which shows boats grouped around at a location near Malwan in Maharashtra. The photos will be checked minutely to confirm if the deep sea trawler ‘Suvarna Tribhuja’ is amongst the boats or not, he said.

Normally, there is only a 72 hours opportunity for search through ship or helicopter. But in the case of the missing fishermen, the search operation is being carried on due to the pressure from the union government, inform Indian Navy officials.

Emergency situation: opportunity to enter the fisheries port

When fishermen from Malpe bunder go towards Goa and Maharashtra for deep sea fishing there are instances when emergency situations like engine repair or ill health arise. During such a situation, the fishermen there do not allow the boats to enter into the bunder, proposed the fishermen.

Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Department informed the chief secretary to write a letter to the chief secretaries of Goa and Maharashtra to get the issue solved.