By Desaraju Surya
Manginapudi (Krishna district): Like many nomadic tribes of the country, fishermen from Uppada at Kakinada in East Godavari district come to Manginapudi every year during winter for fishing. This year too, some 80 families from Uppada came to Manginapudi and erected thatched houses at a small place called "Giripuram" on the shores of the Bay of Bengal. Seeing these people as a threat to their livelihood, local fishermen literally keep the Uppada nomads at bay and as such the latter build make-shift houses very close to the sea. They venture into the sea for fishing and sometimes return after three to four days. In the deadly tsunami that hit the Bay of Bengal coast on Sunday, these families have lost everything. All their fishing boats are damaged, their houses too have collapsed and in just a matter of minutes their survival has been threatened. Though they were lucky to be alive, in one go, life has turned bleak for these hapless families. "Fishing is the only source of our livelihood. What will we do now having lost all our boats," wondered Pandu, a nomad. He has faced rough seas several times in the past but tsunami was something which he didn't even known of. He plans to return to his native village but back home too there is nothing else he could do. Like Pandu, many other families now look towards the sea with blank faces unable to make out how life would be from now on.
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