CHENNAI: AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday urged the state government to hike the relief assistance for the fishermen affected by the crude oil spill in Chennai’s coastal strip.
In a statement here, Palaniswami said the fishermen have lost their livelihood for around 20 days and the relief announced is insufficient. He said the state government should not ignore the fair demands of the fishermen and announce Rs 50,000 as compensation for each Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) boats that was damaged, Rs 20,000 for each catamaran and Rs 25,000 per fishing net.
“Besides, the overall relief assistance should be doubled to enable the fishermen to cope with the difficulties they are facing. The government should identify all villages along the coast affected by the spill and ensure the aid reaches all affected fishermen,” he said.
Palaniswami said the fishermen could not venture into the sea due to the oil spill. “The fishermen who staged protests demanding a hike in relief assistance have been arrested by the police. This is condemnable. I urge the government to withdraw the cases filed against the fishermen,” he added.
He recalled how the AIADMK government helped fishermen when an oil spill took place after two tanker vessels collided off the Chennai coast in 2017. He said while the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited was responsible for the oil spill, the damages could have been avoided if the TNPCB acted on time by conducting inspections in factories located along the Ennore estuary.