Berhampur: Odisha’s Ganjam district administration provided shelter to over 100 fishermen from Andhra Pradesh Monday after they returned from deep sea operations ahead of the impending landfall of cyclonic storm ‘Montha’.
They will be sent to their home state after the situation normalises, Ganjam Collector Keerthi Vassan V said.
The fishermen of various areas of Andhra Pradesh were in the deep sea for fishing in 28 fishing trawlers. They could not attempt to return as the condition of the sea became rough under the influence of the cyclone, which was brewing in the Bay of Bengal, officials said.
The fishermen with their vessels took shelter in the Gopalpur port Monday afternoon. The authorities of the port allowed them to stay in the safe backwater zone to stay after the intervention of the district administration.
“We have expressed concern as to how the fishermen had gone to the sea despite the government having issued a warning well in advance about the cyclonic storm,” said an officer of Ganjam district.
In 2021, the Ganjam district administration had also given temporary rehabilitation to over 200 Andhra Pradesh fishermen in the port who were stranded in the deep sea during the landfall process of the cyclonic storm ‘Gulab’.
Devidutta Mohanty, assistant fishery officer (marine) of Ganjam, said that the fishermen in the district who were in the sea for fishing have already reached their respective villages after the district administration issued a warning to return. The fishermen also do not go sea fishing following the warning.
“Our field staff has been alerted. We have also certified that all the fishermen are in their respective villages,” he said.
The landfall of Cyclone ‘Montha’ has begun in the evening. It is likely to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast near Kakinada during the evening or night of October 28 as a severe cyclonic storm.
