Search operation conducted continuously for nine day: Satheesan

Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Sunday defended the nine-day search operation for three fishermen missing after separate boat mishaps off Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram. He rejected opposition allegations of delays, saying the search was conducted continuously with Central government assistance

Kochi: Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Sunday dismissed opposition allegations of lapses in the search for three fishermen who went missing following separate boat mishaps in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts.

CPI(M), CPI, and BJP leaders had earlier alleged a delay in launching a full-scale search operation after the fishermen went missing off Neendakara in Kollam and Vizhinjam and Muthalappozhi in Thiruvananthapuram on July 31.

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Speaking at an event here, Satheesan said continuous search operations had been carried out for the past nine days to trace the missing fishermen. He said that even when 148 people went missing during the previous LDF government’s tenure, such a prolonged search operation was not conducted.

“If a fisherman goes missing at sea, his family has to wait for seven years to receive compensation. This government changed all that. There is no time to lose,” Satheesan said. He said that, in an unprecedented move in the state’s history, a search had been conducted for the past nine days with the assistance of the Central government.

“Where else has a search been conducted for nine days?” he asked. He hit out at the Opposition for raising allegations over the search operation. “Is this the first time in Kerala’s history that three people have gone missing at sea? Do you know how many people went missing during the LDF’s 10-year rule? It was 148,” he said.

BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said he did not want to enter into any controversy over the search operation. He said a state government minister had contacted him and sought his support for the Centre’s assistance in the search.

“I immediately spoke to the defence minister and the PMO. From noon that day, the Coast Guard and Navy were completely mobilised. Their search has been going on for nine to 10 days,” Chandrasekhar said. The Nemom MLA described the incidents as tragic. “I am going to meet their families. However, it is my prayer and my hope that they will be found,” he added.