PARADIP:In the second incident in the last two weeks, four fishermen had a narrow escape after their boat capsized in Mahanadi river mouth while they were returning to Nehrubangala fishing jetty on Sunday morning.
Reports stated that due to high tide and rough sea, the boat owned by Murthy Babaji of Sandhkuda area capsized while the four fishermen, who jumped from the boat, managed to swim ashore. They have been admitted to Atharbanki hospital.
IIC of Marine police station Manoranjan Chaudhary said there was no casualty as all the four managed to swim across to land safely. Investigation is on, he said.
Meanwhile, the incident has left the fishermen panic-striken. On June 28, another fishing trawler, owned by Narayan Mohanty of Harishpur under Balikuda police limits, had capsized in the river mouth leaving fisherman Madhabananda Mohanty dead. Two others, Kailash Parida and Kathia Majhi of Tihidi under Bhadrak district are still missing.
Locals feel that the depth of the river mouth is decreasing due to massive siltation, posing threat to trawlers and boats. Besides, coast guard and other rescue teams also find it hard to use their vessels for search operation, they said.