Every year between 1,500 and 2,000 boats (each has about 10 fishermen) from various talukas of South Gujarat go to the coast near Saurashtra. Some of them also go to the sea near Mumbai as pomfret and prawns are not available in this region.

On May 12, as many as 26 boats from Umarsadi village went to sea after taking fishing passes from the Okha Port. Nine boats from Valsad-Kosamba and eight from Daman also got caught in the cyclonic storm are yet to reach the coast, nearly a week after the calamity.

In-charge Assistant Director (Fisheries) N K Vasi said two officers from the region had been drafted to coordinate with the fisheries department officials in Okha and Jakhau. He told Express Newsline on Sunday that two boats had definitely sunk and there were no survivors. The news was conveyed by fishermen who swam to safety on Saturday.

Vasi said it was possible that some of the missing fishermen could still be holding on to life jackets or might have been rescued by passing ships.

It was also possible that many fishermen were still alive in their own boats stranded at sea, he added.

He said an aerial survey was being carried out for the last couple of days and survivors, if any, would be rescued. Many people have reached Saurashtra looking for their relatives and acquaintances. In fact, officials from the Valsad district collectorate and fisheries department are having a hard time fending off inquiries about missing persons. The flood control rooms, set up in view of the monsoon, are in constant touch with their counterparts in Kutch and Saurashtra.

The Coast Guard, Customs and Fisheries departments are actively involved in the rescue operations that will go on for another week, the time by which the number of casualties could be known.

The boat owners from Umarsadi include: Arvind Somabhai Tandel (Virbai Prasad No BLS 3051), Kantibhai Somabhai Tandel (Jalaramprasad No BLS 2720), Haribhai Devjibhai (Jamnaprasad, UMR 196), Jayantibhai Bhagwanbhai Tandel (Ramprasad, BLS 1196), Govanlala Tandel (Ramprasad, BLS 2716), Makanlala Tandel (Ramprasad, BLS 758), Girish Soma Tandel (Radhikaprasad, BLS 4472), Gopal Soma Tandel (Dhanprasad, UMR 1442), Thakor Jeram Tandel (Parvatiprasad, BLS 751), Arvind Madhav Tandel (Geetaprasad, BLS2719), Nagin Shukar Tandel (Deviprasad, UMR 633), Devji Budhiabhai Tandel (Jalaramprasad, BLS 3220), Devji Vishram Tandel (Manekprasad, BLS 3158), Bhagwan Lenka Tandel (Ramprasad, BLS 1373), Arvind Lallu Tandel (Jaldeep, 1116), Pravin Durlabh (Jaijagdamba, 2225), Bhagwan Harji (Jalkanya 909), Drushti Puna Tandel (Meetardevi, 3468), Lallu Soma Tandel (Geetanjali, 2900), Jagdish Dhiraj Mangela (Jalratan, 4435), Harikrishna Mangela (Ratnasagar, UMR 447), Vasant Kalidas Mangela (Ratnadeep 3947), Ramdas Bava Mangela(Bharatiprasad, 4148), Soma Govind Mangela (Sagarratan, 4147) and Babu Govind Mangela (Anandsagar, 2451).