Andhra fishermen start journey from Gujarat’s Veraval to Visakhapatnam in buses

The first lot of fishermen left Veraval in 27 buses on Tuesday evening. A medical check-up of the fishermen was done before they boarded the buses, officials said.

“Though we have issued 7,000 tokens to fishermen allowing them to venture into the sea for fishing, the fishermen from Andhra Pradesh wanted to go back home and resume fishing later on,” Bharadwaj said adding that transportation was being undertaken in coordination with officials of Andhra Pradesh government.

The official said that the fishermen from Andhra Pradesh who were in smaller numbers in other fishing harbours of the state like Mangrol were brought together at Veraval in Gir Somnath district for the transportation on Tuesday.

Officials said that these fishermen were working for the fishing boat owners in Gujarat.

Officials said that some of the boat owners were also not willing to undertake fishing expeditions. “The fishing ban period will also start from June 1. So it made sense that they could go back to their villages,” the IAS official said adding that the fishermen usually spend two months at their homes and the rest 10 months on their boats.

The move came a week after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy had called up Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani regarding the stranded fishermen.

The Indian Express had reported that the fishermen from Andhra Pradesh were part of the larger group of 8000-odd fishermen who arrived at the Veraval fishing harbour between March 18-28, and got stranded due to the lockdown.

The other fishermen were largely from Navsari and Valsad districts of South Gujarat.

The state government had earlier sent back the stranded fishermen from Maharashtra, along with those from Valsad and Navsari, along with the boats. The district administration and the local boat owners’ association had arranged for food for these stranded fishermen during their month-long stay in Gujarat during the lockdown.