Fishing boat with four tilts; all rescued
PALGHAR: A day after the police rescued 88 passengers after a boat capsized near Mandwa in Alibaug, a similar incident took place near Arnala Fort wherein four fisherfolk were rescued by the police on Sunday afternoon. Though the fishermen’s boat did not capsize, it was towed by a police speedboat to Arnala jetty. Sub-inspector Subhash Meher of Arnala Coastal police station and three constables were sea patrolling when they heard the fisherfolk screaming. Their boat, Sai Ichcha, had partly tilted to one side as water entered the engine room during high tide, thus stalling the engine.
The rescue operation went on for around three hours and the water was pumped out of the boat. The incident took place five nautical miles (9.26km) from the coast.
“We heard their screams and rushed to the spot. We rescued two women named Nisha Vaity, 25, and Vandana Vaity, 28, and their husbands Rajesh, 34, and Paresh, 38, and got them onto our boat. Then we used our 12V water pump, operated on solar energy, to pump out the water and then towed the boat to Arnala jetty,” said the officer. The four rescued are residents of Arnala Fort area. The fisherfolk were later treated at a local government hospital.
COPS TO BE HONOURED
Vijaykant Sagar, additional superintendent of police, Vasai, said, “We will felicitate police sub-inspector Meher and his team for rescuing the stranded boat. Superintendent of police Gaurav Singh will decide the time and day to honour the police officers who did a fine job in rescuing the four fisherfolk.”