Chief Minister announces Rs 15 crore interim relief for 30,000 fishermen

The expenses for providing interim assistance and for setting up of fish markets would be borne by the State government, an official release added.

CHENNAI: Considering the possible delay in getting insurance claims for fishermen families, who have been affected by the oil spill in three coastal districts, Chief Minister ‘Edappadi’ K Palanisamy on Friday announced an interim relief of Rs 5,000 for each of the affected families.

In all, about 30,000 fishermen families will receive the interim relief, for which `15 crore has been allocated.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister at the Secretariat in which senior ministers and officials took part. The expenses for providing interim assistance and for setting up of fish markets would be borne by the State government, an official release added.

As already announced, the State government had distributed enquiry forms of insurance companies of the ships involved in the oil spill and the filled in forms had been received. After this, compensation would be claimed from the insurance companies through the Central government.  Generally, such a process consumes time. Considering these factors, the meeting was convened at the Secretariat.

The oil spill was caused due to a collision between two ships near Ennore on January 28. The spill spread along the shores in three districts – Tiruvallur, Chennai and Kancheepuram. Many departments of the State and Central governments and nearly 5,700 volunteers from NGOs were engaged in removing the spill along the seafront for over 25 days.

The livelihood of fishermen in the three districts was affected due to the oil slick. While fishermen could not venture into sea, the general public also hesitated to buy the fish caught by fishermen.

The State government tried to allay fears of the public by sending the fish samples to laboratories which found there was nothing wrong in consuming the fish.

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