<p class="bodytext">MLA Raghupathi Bhat appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on tracking a boat with seven fishermen from Malpe that had gone missing since two weeks. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The missing boat has created fear and apprehension among the fishermen in Udupi district. The boat had left for deep sea fishing on December 13 and has remained incommunicado from December 15 midnight. The Coast Guards in Mangaluru and Goa have been carrying out the search operation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, the MLA said that helicopters had been pressed into service to carry out a search and rescue operation in the backwaters of Goa and Maharashtra as well. Two police teams had been formed. But all efforts seemed to have gone in vain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fishermen in the district suspect that the fishing boat might have been hijacked. The apprehensions of the fishing community has also been communicated to the Central government, he said. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Had the boat met with an accident, the boat splinters would have been washed ashore. Even oil spillage would have been noticed in the mid-sea. The sudden disappearance of the boat has created tension within the community, said the MLA. </p>.<p class="CrossHead">Lambasts govt</p>.<p class="bodytext">Lambasting the state government and the district administration for its lackadaisical attitude towards the sand crisis in the district, he said the district administration was not responding to the woes. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The state government should realise that there are no traditional communities engaged in extracting sand in the district.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The poor are not getting the sand. We have been demanding the district administration to allow sand extraction by all 171 persons engaged in sand extraction in the past.</p>
<p class="bodytext">MLA Raghupathi Bhat appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on tracking a boat with seven fishermen from Malpe that had gone missing since two weeks. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The missing boat has created fear and apprehension among the fishermen in Udupi district. The boat had left for deep sea fishing on December 13 and has remained incommunicado from December 15 midnight. The Coast Guards in Mangaluru and Goa have been carrying out the search operation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, the MLA said that helicopters had been pressed into service to carry out a search and rescue operation in the backwaters of Goa and Maharashtra as well. Two police teams had been formed. But all efforts seemed to have gone in vain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fishermen in the district suspect that the fishing boat might have been hijacked. The apprehensions of the fishing community has also been communicated to the Central government, he said. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Had the boat met with an accident, the boat splinters would have been washed ashore. Even oil spillage would have been noticed in the mid-sea. The sudden disappearance of the boat has created tension within the community, said the MLA. </p>.<p class="CrossHead">Lambasts govt</p>.<p class="bodytext">Lambasting the state government and the district administration for its lackadaisical attitude towards the sand crisis in the district, he said the district administration was not responding to the woes. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The state government should realise that there are no traditional communities engaged in extracting sand in the district.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The poor are not getting the sand. We have been demanding the district administration to allow sand extraction by all 171 persons engaged in sand extraction in the past.</p>