NAGAPATTINAM: Fishers from Nagapattinam and other parts of Tamil Nadu stranded in Iran complain that they are struggling for food as they await repatriation. Iran is one of the countries worst affected by coronavirus.
It has been close to three weeks since fishers in Iran stopped fishing after coronavirus reached epidemic proportions in that country. While they are yet to receive help, they have now complained about the shortage of food.
"The number of times a day we eat has been reduced to just once over the past few days. Employers have not paying or feeding us. We have conveyed our problems to the Indian embassy, but they are not of much help," said M Praveen (25) from Vizhunthamavadi, who works in Kish Island ans spoke to TNIE via WhatsApp.
Over 14,000 people in Iran have been infected with coronavirus in the past two months and more than 850 have died, according to reports. The Centre has started sending flights to bring back Indians stuck in the country.
But fishers, who are mostly fishing in islands around the Persian Gulf, say that they have not received any proper communication from the embassy. "We cannot find ingredients to cook and eateries are hard to find nearby. It is not possible for us to travel long distances to buy essentials. We are forced to buy snacks from shops and eat. We are forced to live in primitive lives," said S Bharathi (20) from Vizhunthamavadi, who works in Mugam.
Along with those from Nagapattinam, there are fishers from Kannyakumari, Ramanathapuram, Cuddalore and Tuticorin stuck in their respective places. Most of them use fibreglass boats to fish in Gulf waters.
"We tried communicating with the embassy but they keep postponing everything by citing reasons which are hard to believe. We are losing hope. We may starve to death before we get repatriated," said C John Paul (31), a fisher from Kurumpanai in Kanyakumari district.
Meanwhile, family members of two fishers from Keechankuppam have petitioned the District Collector to take steps to bring the fishers back from Iran.