Former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is scheduled to visit Visakhapatnam on July 14 to offer condolences to the families of the six fishermen who disappeared in a recent boat accident near the Visakhapatnam coast. YSRCP’s Visakhapatnam District President K.K. Raju disclosed that Jagan Mohan Reddy will land at Visakhapatnam Airport at 10:30 a.m. and proceed directly to the residences of the missing fishermen in Jabbarpet, Visakhapatnam South Assembly constituency.
K.K. Raju criticized the state government for its perceived inadequate response to the tragic incident. He highlighted that the accident occurred merely eight nautical miles from the shore, yet it took nearly 20 hours for the rescue teams to reach the location despite having advanced technology at their disposal. The delay was attributed to a lack of coordination among the Coast Guard, Navy, Marine Police, Fisheries Department, and Revenue Department, leading to the disappearance of the six fishermen.
Expressing disappointment, K.K. Raju pointed out the absence of Home Minister V. Anitha’s visit to the affected families, given that she represents the united Visakhapatnam district. He also criticized various state officials, including Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, IT Minister Nara Lokesh, and Agriculture Minister K. Atchannaidu, for their silence on the tragic incident. The state government was accused of prematurely halting the rescue operation before locating the missing fishermen and of distributing compensation without adequately addressing the concerns of the affected families.
A mechanized fishing vessel, carrying seven fishermen, capsized just 10 nautical miles off the Gangavaram coast in Visakhapatnam on July 4. Tragically, six of the seven fishermen are presumed dead after the boat overturned while returning to the coast. One fisherman was rescued by a merchant vessel’s crew and brought ashore on July 6. Despite a four-day search and rescue effort by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, the remaining fishermen could not be located, leading to the discontinuation of the search operation on July 8. The state government provided Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia to each of the families of the missing fishermen.
