Tension prevailed in Muthalapozhi area near here on Monday when a few local residents staged protests against the Kerala ministers' visit to the coastal village for overseeing the mission to rescue three fishermen who went missing after their boat capsized in the seas in the early hours of Monday.
A fisherman lost his life and three others went missing after their boat capsized in the waters of Muthalappozhi, where a river and a lake meet the Arabian Sea.
When Education Minister V Sivankutty, Food and Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil, and Transport Minister Antony Raju reached the village under Anjuthengu police station limit in the afternoon, the locals alleged a delay in launching an operation to save the missing fishermen.
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They also alleged a lack of sincere efforts from the side of the administration to ensure the safety of fishermen venturing into the seas at Muthalapozhi where boat accidents have claimed several lives in the past due to the construction of "an unscientific breakwater" system.
In a statement, Sivankutty alleged that a priest of the Latin Catholic Church tried to create tension in the area by asking the people assembled there to block the way of the ministers.
He said a major conflict was avoided as the locals exercised restraint and did not heed Father Eugene Perera's call to stop them.
Rejecting the allegations raised by the protesters, Sivankutty said the Thiruvananthapuram district administration made the necessary arrangements for carrying out the search to trace the missing fishers early in the morning itself.
The Coast Guard, local police, and marine enforcement agencies started the search early in the morning with the help of Dornier aircraft and helicopters, he said.
Anjuthengu police said they have recovered the body of Kunjumon (42) while three others -- Robin (42), Biju (48) and Biju (55) -- were missing.
The ministers said they listened to what the fishermen had to say, and the services of scuba divers were made available as per their demand.
When the ministers were about to go back after paying tributes to a dead fisherman whose body was recovered in the morning, Archbishop of the Latin Church Thomas Netto and priest Eugene Pereira arrived at the scene, and Perera immediately called the people to stop them, Sivankutty alleged.
A tense situation was avoided as the local people did not pay heed to his call, the minister claimed.
Rejecting the allegations against him, Pereira, the vicar general of the Latin Archdiocese and a leader of the protest against the Vizhinjam port project, claimed that the people raised the voice of protest against the ministers when they shouted at the protesters with the support of their party workers.
The members of the fishing community alleged laxity on the part of the government in addressing the issues prevailing in Muthalappozhi.
Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan alleged that the minister's statement was inappropriate and inflammatory. "Sivankutty's statement that it was Father Eugene Pereira who called for the protest is immature," he said.
The opposition leader also termed the behaviour shown by the ministers as "inhumane" saying they tried to provoke the people instead of comforting and holding them together as they were in the pain of losing their loved ones.
"The ministers should publicly apologise to the fishing community," Satheesan said.
The ministers were accompanied by MLA V Joy and District Collector Geromic George.
The district collector and RDO have been tasked with coordinating further steps as per the directives of the ministers.