The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday criticised the Central and State governments for the alleged administrative delays in the rescue operations of the six fishermen missing off the Visakhapatnam coast and the inadequate financial relief to their families.
Addressing a press conference at Yechury Bhavan, CPM district secretary M. Jaggunaidu and secretariat member V. Krishna Rao termed the State-announced compensation of ₹10 lakh insufficient given the socio-economic vulnerability of the affected households.
They questioned the timeline of the search and rescue efforts following the capsize of the boat on July 4. According to the party, the mechanised boat capsized approximately 14 nautical miles off the Gangavaram coast at around 3 p.m. Although information regarding the incident reached government channels by 8.30 p.m. the same evening, full-scale search operations by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard did not commence until the morning of July 5, they alleged.
The party leadership rejected administrative explanations citing night-time operational constraints, arguing that a prompt deployment of specialised maritime assets immediately after the initial alerts could have changed the outcome for the missing crew.
Highlighting the domestic crises within the coastal hamlets, the CPM said that the missing fishermen were the primary breadwinners for their families. Among the affected is a pregnant woman who lost both her husband and father-in-law to the tragedy, while another young mother has been left to care for an eight-month-old infant and a two-year-old child. The left party also drew attention to the financial distress of the lone survivor and boat owner, Kari Chinna, who had reportedly incurred a debt of ₹35 lakh to purchase the fishing vessel that is now lost. The leaders contrasted the current relief allocation as inadequate when compared to the substantial fiscal incentives and subsidies regularly granted by the State to large corporate entities.
The CPM called upon Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to intervene and upgrade the relief parameters to provide long-term security to the families. The left party placed a formal charter of demands before the State administration, urging an immediate increase in the ex-gratia amount to ₹50 lakh for each dependent family as well as for the boat owner to clear his commercial liabilities.
The party also demanded the immediate allotment of government welfare housing to the displaced families and a State guarantee to completely fund the education of the surviving children to prevent them from falling into destitution.
Published - July 09, 2026 07:07 pm IST