Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Sep 14: Following in a series of boat accidents that are occurring because of accumulated silt at the estuary near the fisheries jetty at Bunder in the city, a fishing boat which met with an accident on Tuesday September 13 left five fishermen injured, three of them seriously.

Shashidhar Padubidri (33), Lokesh Padubidri (35), and Rama Karkera Suratkal (55) suffered grave injuries. They are being treated in a private hospital here. Navin and Mohan, whose injuries were not that serious, were treated as outpatients.

The purse seine boat, ‘Lakshmi Venkatesh’, owned by Keshava Kanchan from Kulai, had left the dock at around 7.30 am on Tuesday. A huge wave hit the boat when it was near the estuary. Because of the accumulated silt, the boat lost balance, and several of the 34 fishermen in the boat were injured. A number of other fishermen, in addition to the above, also sustained injuries, but of minor nature.

The fishermen, unable to navigate the boat back to the dock through estuary, wanted to reach New Mangalore Port Trust for admitting fishermen into a hospital, but were denied entry by port officials. The boat was then brought back, and taken to hospital in an ambulance from Bunder area.

The fishermen have expressed anger and dismay at the continued inhuman attitude of the port officials even in times of crisis. They said that the officials were repeatedly pleaded for permission for the boat to touch the shore there, to provide emergency treatment to injured fishermen, but that the officials did not pay heed. “When we asked them to carry the fishermen in their own boat if our boat cannot be permitted to enter the port waters, they did not agree even for that suggestion,” they rued.

A number of fishermen leaders like Karnataka Fisheries Development Corporation chairman, Nitin Kumar, Umesh Karkera, Navin Karkera, Devanand and Anil Kumar, visited the spot.