Almost 15 years after they disappeared in the Arabian sea without a trace, families of seven fishermen collected their death certificates from Kanyakumari district collector R Alagumeena on Tuesday. S Mariarajan, S Dasan, D Romanse, I John Cleatus, A Anish, P Stalin and G Jimmikuttan from Thoothoor fishing village had been missing since Nov 10, 2009 after their boat, Theertham, was struck by Cyclone Phyan and capsized off Azhikkal in Kerala.
Sesu Adimai from Vallavilai village also went missing after his boat returned to shore without him. Altogether, 280 people on 28 boats were out of contact when Phyan struck the west coast. Though others returned to shore in the following days, these eight fishermen could not be traced despite best efforts from govt agencies.
After it became evident that they were not returning, the fishermen’s families approached the authorities for compensation. Out of eight, four received `2 lakh as fishermen’s insurance and compensation from fishermen welfare board while the other four received `1 lakh as compensation from the CM fund.
The families could not get death certificates at once since Indian Evidence Act 1872 states that seven years should pass to declare a missing person dead. Though they approached the authorities in 2016, it took another eight years to collect the death certificates.
When Cyclone Ockhi hit west coast in 2017, a total of 167 fishers went missing and the state govt declared them dead by a policy decision sanctioning `20 lakh each and govt job to a family member.Those who went missing during Phyan did not get such relief. “In the last 15 years, not only have we lost our breadwinners but our families sunk neck deep in debts. We have been driven to poverty which was one reason we could not actively pursue death certificates,” said fisherman Dasan’s wife Stella, 60.Having collected the death certificates, the fishermen’s families have once again urged the state govt to consider them for better compensation like the Ockhi victims.