Asgholi village lost highest number of fishermen in the entire Phyan ravaged Konkan district. Six men from the village died while they were out in the sea fending for their families. The fisherfolk say that though the government was aware about the Phyan warning, it was not communicated to them.
“Normally when a storm is expected, we are informed either by customs or fisheries department. But this time we did not get any warning from the authorities,” said Shankar Katnak, chairman of Machchimar Sanghatan in Asgholi.
Sarpanch Sridhar Natekar explained that the fishermen left the village on November 11 like any other day, not anticipating any trouble. While six never returned, 17 somehow managed to swim back. “Had we received any warning, we would have stepped out at all that day. So many people wouldn’t have died and we would have had our boats too today,” said Vishnu Palshetkar, a fisherman who is now bedridden after he hurt his back in the storm.
When officials from fisheries department and customs were confronted, both of whom have offices at stone’s throws distance from Asgholi, the officials refused to comment. “We did have the warning but due to some communication error failed to communicate it,” admitted a fisheries official.
