Police have detained the Chinna Muttom Fishing Harbour-based mechanised boat that allegedly hit a fiberglass country boat from Idinthakarai in the district after entering ‘prohibited zone’ of the high seas to seriously injure two fishermen on March 1.
“Moreover, four special teams have been formed to nab the crew of the mechanised boat, including the driver and its owner Alice, who all went underground after the registration of case by the marine police,” said sources in the police on Saturday.
After the mechanised boat from Chinna Muttom Fishing Harbour entered the ‘prohibited zone’ of 6 nautical miles from the shoreline in which only the country boats alone should carryout fishing operations, the larger vessel hit the country boat in which two fishermen suffered fractures. They were rescued and rushed to a private hospital in Nagercoil for treatment.
Following the incident, the Idinthakarai fishermen struck work and the agitation gathered more momentum with the country boat fishermen from all 10 coastal hamlets of the district joining hands with their protesting brethren.
Following the meeting of country boat fishermen representatives at Idinthakarai on Friday, it was decided to strike work till Monday and the meeting urged the police to arrest the crew. They also demanded the detention of the boat and its registration certificate be cancelled.
A section of them announced that they would stage a road roko at Thomas Mandapam near Koodankulam on East Coast Road on Monday and hoist black flags along the coast.
Following this unpleasant Development, Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu, after his meeting with the country boat fishermen representatives on Friday, contacted the higher-ups in the Department of Fisheries in Chennai and explained to them the uneasy situation prevailing here ahead of the Chief Minister’s proposed visit to Nagercoil on Monday (March 6).
Subsequently, the police, after registering a case against the erring mechanised boat crew, detained the vessel at Chinna Muttom Fishing Harbour and took it to Thengaipattinam Fishing Harbour in a bid to prevent it from going in for fishing. Moreover, special teams were formed to nab the crew and the owner of the boat.
“Since the ‘madai’ (the spot where fish and prawn would usually be available in large numbers) is situated closer to Idinthakarai and within 6 nautical miles from the shore, the mechanised boats, despite the ban, harvest fishes by trawling for making more money. But we, the country boat fishermen are seriously affected due to this violation and we lose precious lives at times,” says S.V. Antony of Uvari, former village panchayat president.
