COVID-19: Stranded Migrant Fisherman from Andhra Dies on Board in Gujarat

New Delhi: On April 22, K. Raju, a 22-year-old migrant fish worker from Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh, reportedly died of panic attack on-board one of the fishing boats in Veraval, Gujarat.

According to reports, after hearing of a COVID-19 case near the Veraval seaport, Raju became anxious and died of cardiac arrest around 2 a.m.

The deceased worker had been eagerly waiting to return to D Matsalesam village in Srikakulam to see his newborn daughter for the first time but couldn’t because of the lockdown. As the country is going through a complete lockdown, his body couldn’t be taken to his native place for the last rites. Some fishermen cremated him and sent a video to his relatives.

Speaking on Raju’s last rites, Chintapalli Korlayya, a fisherman from Veraval, said, “We shot a video and sent it to his family on WhatsApp. No official came to the seaport after hearing about the death of the migrant fisherman. No compensation has been announced by any government.”

On April 9, another fisherman T. Jagannathan, 45, a resident of Gara Mandalam in Kalingapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, had also died.

Since the lockdown has been in force, the fish workers said they were living in unhygienic conditions,

“Several stranded fishermen are sick due to unhygienic conditions at the seaport,” Korlayya added.

“Confined to their boats, which are designed as places of work and not residence, the workers have been stranded in over-crowded and cramped harbours. There has been an absence in the state’s extension of services which has led to tremendous hardships and ultimately the deaths of the workers. There have been reports of inadequate food supplies, poor hygiene and sanitation facilities, and the non-payment of wages on board the boats,” said the press note by AP fisherfolk in Gujarat.

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Ever since the lockdown from March 24, the mechanised fishing sector has stopped fishing activities. It is expected that the sector will be able to resume fishing only in August this year ‘due to the compounded conditions of the lockdown, financial distress and health of workers’. Though the workers have been rendered jobless, they said they had not been consulted regarding their needs.

“Similarly representations made by the workers at various official levels remain unheeded. The neglect of the workers is taking a significant toll on their physical and mental health with reports of panic attacks, and of death. It is also being reported that the death last night in Veraval was on account of information regarding the outbreak of COVID-19 close to harbour,” the press note added.

The immediate demand of the workers is to shift them from the boats and to state shelters, along with a thorough medical examination. The second demand is to coordinate with them for the plans to return to their place of residence since staying on board fishing boats poses significant threat to their lives.

According to AP fisherfolk in Gujarat, India’s mechanised marine fishing fleet, which provides for 80% of the country’s annual fish landings, is crewed and operated overwhelmingly by migrant workers. Working in different waged relations, from catch-shares to daily-wages, these workers undertake a circular migration, which is predominantly from Central and East India to harbours on the West Coast. S

Since there is no official census on the number of workers in this sector, it is hard to estimate how many workers are stranded under the lockdown. What is known though is that they are in conditions that are less than ideal, and most likely in violation, of the Standard Operating Procedures under the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The workers said they had been left to fend for themselves on board the fishing boats, relying largely on the boat owners to provision them with rations and everyday necessities.

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