MANGALORE: Of the fishing vessels that were stranded in the Arabian Sea for the past four days owing to rough weather, about 200 vessels sailed back to the New Mangalore Port on Monday and Tuesday.

The port authorities allowed these fishing boats inside as the fishermen found it difficult to reach the minor ports along the coast.

A press release issued by the Coast Guard here on Tuesday said the Coast Guard personnel of district headquarter No. 3 on Monday rescued six fishermen from a boat, Anupama, off Malpe. Their names were given as Srikanth (18), Narayan (38), Hanumath (30) and Ishwar (35), all natives of Bhatkal, Sivananda (37) of Malpe and Nagappa (25) of Kumta. They were rescued by the Coast Guard ship Annie Besant.

Another ship, Kasturba Gandhi, has been pressed into service for search-and-rescue operations. "Aircraft were kept as standby to be pressed into action. But owing to inclement weather, they could not be used.

The Coast Guard plans to launch air efforts from Goa, Kochi and Daman as soon as the storm subsides," the release said.

According to details provided by the office of the Deputy Commissioner here, Dakshina Kannada recorded an average of 114.56 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours ending 8 a.m. on Tuesday. Puttur recorded a maximum of 158 mm rainfall during the same period, Sullia 145.60 mm rainfall, Belthangady 135 mm rainfall, Bantwal 82 mm rainfall, and Mangalore 52.20 mm rainfall.

Life normal

Though there was moderate to heavy rainfall in Mangalore city on Tuesday, life remained normal.

All flights operated as scheduled from the Bajpe airport. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, on his way back to Bangalore, inspected the facilities at the airport.

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