Thiruvanathapuram: A boat carrying 16 fishermen overturned near the Muthalapozhi harbour on Thursday.
The fishing boat overturned at around 6am on Thursday. All the fishermen swam to safety.
The accident comes amidst the delay in the dredging work at Muthalapozhi harbour to give the navigation channel necessary depth.
At a high-level meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram on July 31, in which three ministers including fisheries minister Saji Cherian were present, it was agreed that Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited (AVPPL) will resume the dredging of sand from August 1.
Under an MoU signed with the Harbour Engineering Department (HED) in 2018, it is AVPPL’s responsibility to dredge the ‘navigation channel’ and maintain its depth at 5 metres till 2024 May. The rocks that had slipped into the navigation channel should also have been removed by the AVPPL.
Neither dredging nor the removal of rocks was not carried out by the Adani Group after 2021.
Result: Sand brought in by both the sea and the lake is piling up on top of the rocks, increasing the viciousness of the waves and risk to motorised fishing boats. The estuary mouth had consumed the lives of 68 fishermen in the last decade. Four had lost their lives on a single day on July 10 this year.
The negligence of the Adani Group had earlier forced the HED to float tenders for the removal of boulders. The contractor who won the tender has refused to start work citing monsoon-related difficulties.
At the meeting on August 31, the Adani Group was once again told of its obligations and its representatives agreed to remove the boulders. The removal of rocks will take at least three weeks. So dredging proper will begin only next month.