Andhra Pradesh - Nellore   

Heroic act by fishermen

By C. Narayanarao,

NELLORE, DEC. 28. Fishermen of Mypadu, like their counterparts elsewhere, know the vicissitudes of the sea and also the cyclone fury. But on Sunday, there was no such indication and about 400 fishermen ventured into the sea in about 130 boats in the early hours without realising what was in store for them.

At 9 a.m. the sea turned ferocious with tidal waves rising to a height of 10 ft. and devastating the area, uprooting houses and damaging boats and structures on the way. Fishermen, who realised the gravity of the situation, decided to save themselves without waiting for Government help, as they knew that it would not come so easily. However they had to remain 2 km away from the sea in view of its severe roughness.

Seeing the state of affairs, they took a timely decision and waited till the sea turned normal, sometime in the afternoon. By that time, there was a talk that a `helicopter' would hover around the area and rescue them, but there were no such sign.

A bold decision

Taking a bold decision, fishermen took out some fibre boats and ventured into the sea and first salvaged the over turned boats. In a group of 50 equipped with ropes, they tagged on the floating boats, put them in a row with great difficulty and then successfully brought them back, again in a row. But all this took a painstaking effort of more than two hours amidst every possibility of the sea becoming violent at any time.

But it was the determination and consolidation among them that made the `impossible' a reality. Had they leisurely waited for Government help, perhaps, the boats would have gone beyond the high seas and caused heavy loss. Each `hyla' (net) costs Rs. 3 lakhs and an ordinary boat around Rs. 75,000.

At the seashore areas of Nellore district, particularly at Mypadu, if there are any real `heroes' and `adventurers', it is not the Government, the Navy or the Coast Guard, but the brave fishermen themselves.

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