Just six weeks back, they bought a boat to sail from Chennai to Odisha to escape the travails of the COVID-19 lockdown and unemployment. But today the fishermen of Ganjam are waiting for a train to take them back to their jobs as crew on fishing vessels in Tamil Nadu.
These Odisha fishermen made a big news splash as they were the first to take the sea route home even as millions of other migrant workers set out on foot, as the lockdown closed jobs and other options for livelihood and left many facing starvation.
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But just weeks after that eventful voyage home, Pokala Dilesh is keen to go back to Chennai, faced with low wages of just ₹200 per day from fishing on the Odisha coast and mounting pressure of sustaining his family.
“Who does not want to stay at home and make a living with family members around? [But] if earning does not meet requirement, it is better to migrate,” said Mr. Dilesh, underlining the stark reality that he and his fisher colleagues face in Odisha.
M. Bairagi, a fisherman of Markandi village, too, had resumed fishing after their post-voyage quarantine, but the meagre catch has him worried. “The earning from fishing in Odisha will help