Fishermen from the city have called upon the Fisheries Department and disaster management authorities to introduce a flawless wireless communication facility at the Beypore Fisheries Station that can easily connect with various fishing boats and streamline the existing modes of emergency communications in times of calamities.
Fishermen organisations point out that the existing wireless communication system works only among fishers and it does not connect them with disaster management authorities. For emergency communication, fishers are still depending on their mobile phones, which are less reliable with poor signal strength, they claim.
“We have raised the issue at a recent district-level meeting chaired by District Collector U.V. Jose. The lack of proper wireless communication system is continuing to be a major flaw,” says Beypore Harbour Development Committee leader Karichal Preman. He points out that the over dependence on mobile communication network is a risky thing, and many a time fishers are forced to come closer to the shore for avoiding call drops.
Mr. Preman adds that the coastal police also do not have a proper wireless communication facility that can connect with fishers in an emergency. At present, fishers are in a situation in which they make frantic calls to various helpline numbers and it ultimately ends up with a sluggish rescue operation, he claims. The lack of own rescue boats and personnel specialised in deep sea rescue activities has also not been addressed. Fishermen organisations say the government should immediately provide fund for purchasing hi-tech rescue boats for marine enforcement squads and replace the custom of appointing daily wage workers as rescue operators with the appointment of permanent employees.
Fisheries Department officials say that steps are under way to standardise the existing wireless communication system using the high marine frequency. “As the current network often creates interruption with the police wireless system, we need to migrate to the marine frequency level and it will be done with the government support,” they add.
“At the Beypore Fisheries station, we had the wireless systems earlier that connected with fishing boats. Now, it is in a damaged condition and the department wants to purchase new accessories to reinstate the facility,” says Fisheries Assistant Director P.K. Ranjini.
