Roni Antony
Port Blair, Oct 31: Finally the man who survived two storms at high sea and almost 28 days in Bay of Bengal without sufficient food and water, reached Port Blair today. At Port Blair airport he was welcomed by his wife and other relatives.
Mr. Amrit Kujur a boatman by profession from Shaheed Dweep, who follows sea routes for a living and transport everyday items such as groceries and potable water to Shaheed Dweep (Neil Island), was very happy after reaching Port Blair and he has a amazing survival story to share.
According to Mr. Kujur, he had lost his usual ocean route due to storms and survived nearly 28 days adrift before he hit the coast at in Puri district, Odisha on last Friday.
After he was rescued at Rajhans on the banks of Chilika lake near sleepy coastal village of Khirisahi on intervening night of 24th and 25th, the local Police had rushed him and admitted to Krushnaprasad Primary Health Centre for immediate treatment.
Thereafter, he was shifted to the Puri District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) on 27th where he was given proper medical treatment.
“I had lost all hope but survived drinking sea water for 26 days. Thank God I survived. I used to prayer everyday. Finally my prayers were heard,”Mr. Kujur told Andaman Sheekha today.
According to Mr. Kujur he had started from Sippighat in a dinghy, on September 28 with his friend, Mr. Divyaranjan, to transport provisions and potable water to Shaheed Dweep.
However, a storm left them stranded in the middle of sea, away from their regular course.
The drifted for many days and one day they saw a fishing boat of Myanmar and some sailors, who gave them food and asked to enter inside Burma for help. Finally, a Myanmarese Navy ship came to their aid. They helped Kujur by giving 260 litres of diesel and a compass for determining direction in the sea. They also gave then food and nodules packets.
But the duo ran out of luck again as they encountered another storm in the Bay of Bengal. The crashing waves dumped hundreds of gallons of seawater into the boat, threatening to sink or flip them. Luckily, the boat did not capsize and drifted around till the fuel was used up. One fine morning Mr. Kujur found that Mr. Divyaranjan is not getting up from sleep, he understood that Mr. Divyaranjan has died.
Kujur kept the body of Mr. Divyaranjan in the boat for two days but had to throw it into the sea when it started decomposing.
According to Mr. Kujur at Puri, the District Administration, Police personnel and public treated him well and took good care of him. The district Administration of Puri arranged tickets for Mr. Kujur, because of which he reached Port Blair via Kolkata in a Spice Jet flight today. Talking to Andaman Sheekha he thanked each and everyone in Odisha who helped him and treated him well. He will proceed to Shaheed Dweep tomorrow.
