Kerala - Kochi   

Life thrown out of gear in coastal belt

By Our Staff Reporter

Fishing vessels remaining berthed at the Munambam fishing harbour in Kochi on Tuesday following the tsunami alert. Photo: H. Vibhu

KOCHI, MARCH 29. With the memories of the December 26 tsunami attack still fresh in their minds, residents along the coast were quick in reacting to the tsunami warning issued by the authorities yesterday, throwing life out of gear. It even forced thousands of fishermen in the Munambam fishing harbour from venturing into the sea. The otherwise busy Munambam harbour wore a deserted look this morning, as fishermen from Tamil Nadu district rushed back to their native places.

Originally, the harbour was expected to resume fishing operations in full swing today after the Easter holidays. The first batch of Tamil fishermen, who reached Munambam by Monday evening, left for their hometown late in the night as the news of the earthquake in Indonesia and the warning of a possible tsunami attack reached the coastal belt. "Some of our friends left for Tamil Nadu yesterday. We will be leaving Kochi this evening," said B. Jerald, a fisherman from Manavalakuruchi, Tamil Nadu.

"As the authorities have asked the people in the coastal belt to be on high alert for three days, the fishermen will be returning only after the alert period," he said.

Some boat owners of Munambam tugged away their vessels from the harbour to places like Pattinam and Moothakunnam areas fearing that the vessels may be damaged in the tsunami onslaught as happened last time. As panic gripped the coastal belt, a large number of boat owners decided not to send their vessels for fishing. Most of them waited till this morning to send their vessels into the sea.

Sea level rises

Some of the fishermen in the harbour said that there were some unusual movements in the sea. There were also unconfirmed reports that water level rose slightly at Edavanakadu area, which was badly affected by the last tsunami attack.

Scare at Cherai beach

Life of the traders and residents in the Cherai beach, who were slowly recovering from the impact of the earlier tsunami attack, was affected following the alert message. Most of the sea-facing hotels evacuated their guests to safer places late in the night.

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