Migrant workers sail 1,000 km by sea from Chennai amid lockdown

A group of 27 migrant fishermen travelled over 1,000 kms by boat via sea route from Chennai in a bid to reach their hometowns in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh amid the ongoing lockdown triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak. They reached the shore near the Odisha-Andhra border on April 20 and were taken into quarantine by policemen, reported The Telegraph.

The report said all the 27 migrant workers were fishermen who worked for a fish merchant. They fell short of their destination but had managed to reach the shore in Ichhapuram near Odisha-Andhra border in five days after leaving Chennai.

The migrant workers, who were travelling in a wooden boat, reached Dankuru beach near Ichhapuram, Andhra Pradesh on April 20 morning, Vijay Amruta Kulange, collector, Ganjam district, Odisha, told the English daily. Of them, 10 are from Odisha, and the rest from Andhra Pradesh.

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One of the migrants from Odisha said they decided to undertake the journey since they were scared due to the rising of COVID-19 cases in Chennai. “We wanted to return home, but there was no transport available. So we decided to try our luck by sea,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

According to the report, another reason for choosing the sea route was the risk factor; there’s more chances of getting caught by police on roads and highways.

The migrant worker said each of them contributed ₹7,000 and purchased a three-year-old boat with 9HP engine at a cost of ₹1.73 lakh. They have been mulling to get back home since mid-March when a fishing ban was already in place even though the nationwide ban was yet to be announced, the report said.

He said they decided to embark on the sea journey when the lockdown was extended from till March 3. They decided to start on April and bought the boat the same evening, and reached the shore, where the boat was anchored, around 9 pm. The fisherman said they loaded their boat with two sacks of rice, tomatoes, a gas cylinder and 300 litres of drinking water. They set sail at 10 pm.

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Surprisingly, the boat was not detected or caught by patrolling coast guard or navy vessels on the way. The boat sailed within 15 kms from the shore and the group survived on a staple meal of rice and tomato chutney. Another worker said their boat’s engine even developed a snag midway, but one of them managed to repair it.

How did police came to know about them? One of the friends of the fishermen had informed their relatives about their arrival. These relatives then informed the police who reached the coast and asked them to deboard from the boat.

The fishermen had planned to drop the Andhra fishermen at Ichhapuram and then sail towards the nearby Odisha coast. They all have been quarantined.