Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi: The multi-agency search for three fishermen who went missing in separate boat mishaps off Neendakara, Muthalappozhi and Vizhinjam on July 31 entered its 10th day on Sunday. Indian Navy joined the operation, deploying a specialised diving team and portable sonar (sound navigation and ranging) system to intensify the search.INS Kalpeni sailed from Kochi on Saturday night and anchored about one nautical mile off Neendakara on Sunday morning. Navy divers began underwater operations around 10am, aided by the marine enforcement wing, which helped localise the diving position, and portable sonar that boosted surveillance, official sources said.The Navy first deployed its resources to search for Gautham Krishna, 26, who went missing after a fishing boat capsized off the coast. The ship later moved to Muthalappozhi to search for Shijin, 32, and will subsequently be deployed off Vizhinjam to search for John Mathias, 54.At Neendakara, the search began at 6.30am with fisheries department lifeguards, marine enforcement and coastal police personnel and two of Gautham’s relatives. Boats searched around the capsizing site and an anchor-dragging operation was conducted towards the estuary. Teams also searched nearby backwaters. The search was called off at 4pm, while drones monitored the breakwater rocks and wharf.At Muthalappozhi, a marine ambulance carrying a police officer, coastal police personnel and four lifeguards left Vizhinjam harbour at 7.40am. A fishing boat joined the search, while a Coast Guard helicopter conducted aerial surveillance. A four-member scuba team searched for about 90 minutes before worsening weather forced the operation to be called off.For John Mathias, a Coast Guard ship searched the Vizhinjam-Kanyakumari stretch. A Coast Guard Dornier aircraft conducted an aerial search along the route after taking off from Kochi at 2.30pm. The fisheries department’s rescue boat searched the Muttom, Inayam and Thengapattanam areas. At the family’s request, authorities also sought an aerial search in the Rameswaram-Ramanathapuram region.The intensified operation followed protests by the families, who alleged that the response had been inadequate and delayed. “These intensive operations should have started the day after they went missing. We demanded a rescue operation, not just a search operation. We protested because the administration woke up only now,” said Nebin Nelson, son of John Mathias.The search operations have also triggered a political row, with BJP criticising the govt’s handling of the cases. BJP MLA V Muraleedharan criticised chief minister V D Satheesan’s remarks on the missing fishermen as “extremely disgraceful” and demanded an apology. He alleged delays in the search for the fishermen and said neither the chief minister nor fisheries minister had visited the families. Satheesan had earlier defended the govt’s response, and claimed that even when 148 people went missing during the previous LDF govt’s tenure, such a prolonged search operation had not been conducted.Kollam collector Anie Jula Thomas, who visited Gautham’s family, said the administration was doing its maximum and providing all possible support. Union minister Suresh Gopi, who intervened after Gautham’s mother sought his help, said he had been in constant contact with senior officials and would not allow the search to slow down.
