CHENNAI: Considering the cost of the transponders and the continuous problems which the fishermen are facing all along, a division bench of the Madras High Court has opined that the government should come forward to provide financial assistance to the fishermen by extending the subsidy to the maximum extent.
The bench of Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad gave the suggestion when the PIL from Fishermen Care came up on Tuesday. The matter stands adjourned till October 12.
As directed earlier, an officer from the ISRO appeared before the bench and told the judges that to fix one transponder, the cost would go up to Rs 40,000.
Meanwhile, the DIG of Indian Coast Guard filed a report, which said that non-mechanised or country crafts were not fitted with any of the communication/navigational equipment. They are not registered with the Fisheries department and no data are available, the report said.
The Distress Alert Transponders (DATS), to be used in hours of distress, developed by ISRO, have been issued to fishermen at subsidised rates. The Indian Coast Guard has distributed 786 DATS to fishermen. Fitment of Automatic Identification System (AIS) on board the boats will largely alleviate the cross-border activity and will ensure positive tracking and accountability of Indian fishing boats, he added.
If only the fishing boats were fitted with AIS transponders, the detection and identity of the fishing boats can be ascertained. Presently the fitment of AIS transponders on board fishing boats is not mandatory and hence none of the boats are fitted with AIS transponders. In developed countries, it is mandatory,
he said.