Five days on the sea with little food and water, a group of 38 fishermen covered around 600 nautical miles on their boat to reach their hometown in Odisha from Chennai, officials here said.
The migrants, who had gone to Chennai to work for a fish merchant, were stranded in the southern metropolis following the imposition of the nationwide lockdown to contain spread of coronavirus.
"We purchased a wooden boat with a dual engine and left Chennai on April 20. After undertaking a five-day long journey, we reached Ganjam on Saturday evening," one of the fishermen said.
Asked what prompted them to leave Chennai amid the shutdown, another fisherman said, "You know that the number of coronavirus cases has been on the rise in Tamil Nadu. That apart, we would go hungry on some days. Under those circumstances, we were compelled to take the risk."