The Muthalapozhi coastal estuary and fishing harbour at Perumathura were eerily silent on Saturday as strong winds accompanied by brief spells of intermittent rains lashed the region. The area, usually bustling with fishermen’s activities, has been witnessing a multi-agency rescue operation to locate Shijin, 32, a fisherman missing at sea since August 31.

Sitting on the rocks along the bank of the estuary, Shefi Raju, Shijin’s sister, said the family had been waiting since early morning for a scuba team as the search entered its ninth day. However, the team arrived after 11.30 a.m. and entered the waters, but soon returned to their vessel after strong winds and rain made diving difficult.

According to Shefi, the episode was a classic example of the apathy of successive governments towards fishermen despite recurring accidents and loss of lives in the region. “Even after eight days of Shijin’s disappearance, the State government agencies literally woke up from their slumber on Saturday, and that too after a public protest,” she said. The family was unsure whether Shijin remained in the area, although they continued to hope that he might be nearby.

Smith Sebastian, who was accompanying Shijin and two other fishermen on the ill-fated trip, said their vessel returned to Muthalapozhi harbour around 8.30 p.m. on August 31 after the weather turned turbulent. The vessel capsized in the estuary while manoeuvring through rough waves. Shijin and another fisherman, Sreemon, 26, fell into the water as rain reduced visibility almost to zero.

“We could hardly see Shijin and Sreemon clinging to a rock that protruded into the estuary, but we were helpless as swimming towards them was almost impossible,” Mr. Sebastian recalled.

After swimming to the shore, they rushed to a nearby coastal police patrol party. They, however, alleged that the police were unwilling to assist and instead asked them to search for the missing men with other fishermen and their vessels. “Had they tried to support us with the government machinery, we could have saved them,” Mr. Sebastian said.

More distressingly, the body of Sreemon was first spotted by Mr. Sebastian himself the next morning among the boulders near the mouth of the estuary.

For Shijin’s wife, Stiji Raju, the tragedy has shattered a family already struggling to stay afloat. Shijin had worked on a guest boat operated by a shipping company in the Gulf until recently and returned to Anchuthengu three months ago. Unwilling to remain idle during his annual leave, he ventured into the sea to earn money for their three-year-old son’s treatment.

The child has a septal defect and valve dysfunction in the heart, and doctors have recommended surgery. The family had been struggling to raise the money.

“Our immediate demand is that Shijin has to be fished out from the sea,” Stiji said. She also demanded an end to the recurring death of fishermen at the estuary mouth due to ‘unscientific construction’, which, she said, causes deaths among fishermen every monsoon, besides seeking government support for the family.

Meanwhile, the family of Johnny Matthias, 54, of Pulluvila, continues to hope that he is alive at sea. He went missing around 18–20 miles off Vizhinjam in the early hours of August 1 after a vessel capsized in rough weather. Four others escaped after spending about six hours at sea.

His daughter, Jiji Johnny, a PhD scholar, said the family remained confident because he had previously returned home after going missing at sea for seven and four days, including during Cyclone Ockhi. The family wants the Navy supported by other agencies to conduct an aerial search.

“We often receive contradictory assurances from different agencies. what the family desperately needs now is a coordinated search,” she said.

According to Surendran Anchuthengu, a social activist, the number of fishermen who were killed in the Muthalapozhi region will come to around 80 over the past one decade alone, which increases the seriousness of the issue.

At Muthalapozhi and elsewhere in the State, storm waves continue to lash the rocks and beaches, leaving an unsettling silence where the voices of fishermen once filled the air.

Published - August 08, 2026 08:35 pm IST