October 30, 2014 — Around 200 vessels carrying an unspecified number of fishermen could not be contacted by the relevant authorities or their community amid a great deal of panic across the Sindh-Balochistan coastal areas caused by the powerful tropical cyclone Nilofar.
Strong winds and torrential rains are feared to hit the coastline over the next three days and the vulnerable areas have been identified as Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin and Tharparkar districts.
Several hundred members of the fishermen community in Thatta and Sujawal districts were seen desperately seeking assistance of the Maritime Security Agency, Coast Guards, fisheries department and non-governmental organisations to know if their family members could be contacted.
It was gathered that around 200 vessels carrying several thousand fishermen had left the coastal villages of Thatta for fishing in the deep sea many days before Nilofar developed in the Arabian Sea.
Thousands more who had set off later and were fishing not far from the coast timely received the cyclone warning and returned home, sources in the community said.
Those yet to to be contacted are residents of Keti Bunder, Kharo Chhan, Ghorabari, Jhangisar and other coastal areas of Thatta and Sujawal districts, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) leader Noor Mohammed Thaimor said.