Chennai:
Outside Chennai's Fortis Malar Hospital Dr Kshitiji is anxiously waiting for some positive news about his young cousin Rushabh. He is one of the five sailors on board the ship MT Pratibha Cauvery which got grounded near the Besant Nagar beach in Chennai on Wednesday. Survivors say Rushabh had got into the life boat which capsized and is missing ever since.
On the day the cyclone made its landfall, the ship captain's distress call sent at 2:20 pm got no response. Neither Coast Guard nor the state government's Coastal Security Group or the Chennai Port came for rescue. It was the fishermen who rescued the 17 sailors. Coast Guard Choppers rescued trapped sailors only the day after.
Dr Kshitiji says, "I'm a doctor, and when a person's life is in danger I can't say let things settle, I would come. They are meant to guard people, right?"
When NDTV took up this issue, Coast Guard authorities said, "We do not monitor ships at ports, not even on a cyclone day. We rescue only when there is a call." A senior officer in the state's Coastal Security Group claimed, "CSG is meant only to check militancy within 10 nautical miles from the sea shore."
Officials in the Chennai Port blamed it on the ship's captain for defying its instruction to leave for safe waters following the cyclone alert. They argued, "All ships were instructed to leave the port on October 30 soon after we received the cyclone alert. MT Pratibha Cauvery is the only ship that defied."
Officials also claim, "Wednesday's weather was too bad for rescue and that's why we could not rush to rescue. But on the first light next day we deployed choppers to rescue the trapped 15 sailors." They also pointed fingers at the crew's decision to take the life boat when cyclone Nilam was crossing.
While authorities pass the buck, the big question is whether bad weather was the real reason for the delay in rescue or would an effective monitoring of ships on a cyclone day would have averted the tragedy? While only an investigation could figure out what went wrong, anxious friends and families are hoping against hope to see their near and dear ones soon.