14 fishermen still stranded near Devi river mouth in Astaranga

Astaranga: In a tragic incident, 14 fishermen are still stranded in Devi river mouth as rough waters forced rescue ships to return, said reports on Monday. It is worth mentioning here that, two boats with 14 fishermen are left stranded near the Devi Nadi Muhana in Astaranga area of Odisha’s Puri district due to technical glitches on August 25.

The fishermen had reportedly gone to the sea for fishing in two separate boats namely – Maa Parvati and Maa Kali – today. However, they got stranded at a distance of nearly two kilometres from the muhana (river mouth) as both the boats developed technical glitches owing to rough condition of the sea.

After getting information about the incident, owners of both the boats sought the help of the Nuagarh Marine Police to rescue the fishermen. Soon, a team of cops launched a rescue operation with a speedboat. However, they returned back as they could not reach near the fishermen due to extremely rough condition of the sea. Later, the Coast Guards were informed about the incident.

Till the filing of this report, the rescue operation was halted owing to darkness and will be resumed tomorrow morning, said sources adding that two big boats will be used to rescue the stranded fishermen.

Meanwhile, it is alleged that the fishermen had allegedly entered the sea despite a ban imposed by the administration owing to the low-pressure area formed over the Bay of Bengal.