NAGAPATTINAM: Fishermen of Nagapattinam are in a state of agony following a Sri Lankan court ordering the destruction of 29 of 127 boats seized for allegedly crossing IMBL a few years ago. Of the 29 boats, 25 belong to fishermen of Nagapattinam and four, Karaikal.
“We learnt that the Sri Lankan court has ordered for destruction as the degraded boats cause environmental pollution. They have lost their seaworthiness and it is not advisable to bring them back to India. It involves expenditure for repair, re-equipment, fuel and human resources,” said an official from the Fisheries Department in Nagapattinam.
Officials added that the fishermen who lost their trawlers in Sri Lankan conflict can avail themselves of subsidy to build new ‘Longliner cum Gillnetter boats’ (deep sea fishing boats). However, the announcement on subsidy isn’t being seen as a relief by fishermen.
RMP Rajendra Nattar, a fisher-representative from Nagapattinam, said, “Who gave the Sri Lankans authority to destroy Indian properties. We know those boats were plundered off their vital parts and left to be degraded purposefully. What is the answer to the loss of boats?
The assurance that the affected fishers can avail themselves of subsidy to build new deep-sea fishing boats is dissatisfactory. Very less number of deep-sea fishing boats were built ever since such scheme was introduced.” Among the 25 fishing boats from Nagapattinam district, 22 are mechanised trawlers and three fibreglass boats, owned by fishers from villages such Akkaraipettai, Vanagiri among 12 others.
Sri Lankan Navy detains 18 TN fishermen
Nagapattinam/Chennai: Sri Lankan Navy has detained 18 fishermen from Nagapattinam and Karaikal districts for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) in two different boats in the past 12 hours. The authorities have registered two cases and detained 13 fishermen from Nagapattinam and five from Karaikal. They have also seized fibreglass boat from Nagapattinam fishermen and trawler boat from Karaikal fishermen. Condemning the incident, PMK founder S Ramadoss on Tuesday tweeted, “The arrest of 18 fishermen of Nagapattinam is condemnable. The atrocities and violation of the Sri Lankan Navy which had been under control due to the pandemic have now increased. It is not tolerated. The government has to take steps to address the issues of fishermen (of Tamil Nadu)”.