Visakhapatnam: Former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has squarely blamed negligence of AP coalition Government for the death of six fishermen. He demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore each for the affected families.

K.K. Raju, YSRCP Visakhapatnam district president, said that Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced financial assistance of Rs 7 lakh each to the families of the deceased fishermen and to Chinna, the lone survivor of the incident.

After consoling the families of the deceased and he interacted with the lone survivor of the tragedy. Speaking to the media here on Tuesday he said that the boat carrying seven fishermen who went into the sea for fishing capsized just 10 miles away from Gangavaram Port and not a single official responded despite repeated pleas from the affected families. After the boat capsize the lone survivor, Chinna, swam to safety and was rescued by a Chinese boat. YS Jagan said that the family members repeatedly called and sent SOS messages to the Collector and other officials, but there was no response. Had there been one, the other fishermen could have been rescued. All seven persons had set sail, but only one returned with great difficulty, and the Government did not respond in the way it should have, he added.

He stated that as the blame lies entirely with the Government, it should take responsibility and pay Rs 1 crore each to all the affected families. If the coalition Government fails to pay Rs 1 crore compensation, then YSRCP will fulfill the promise when it comes back to power.

YS Jagan said that messages were sent to the Collector and the police, but help was not forthcoming. The city has the Coast Guard and is the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command. Despite such resources, the Government failed to respond in time, which could have rescued the others as well, he added.

The cruel part of the incident is that from the CM to the Cabinet Ministers handling the Fisheries and Disaster Management portfolios, none of them even visited the affected families till now and instead washed their hands of the matter by paying compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each family, he said.