Call to improve surveillance at Beypore fishing harbour

Fishermen’s families allege that migrant workers are turning the place into a safe haven for miscreants

Though there have been initiatives to issue identity cards for all fish workers at the Beypore harbour, they are yet to be completed. | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh

Noticing an increase in clashes between migrant workers and suspected drug pushers, fishermen’s families and allied workers have called for improved security and surveillance measures at the Beypore harbour. The opening of a police aid post is now their major demand.

Fishermen from the harbour area say that many unknown migrant workers are roaming around the area as fish workers in late-night hours and create nuisance for local residents. An auction hall in the harbour is the main late-night shelter for such unknown gangs in the absence of any heightened security arrangements, they add. 

Though there have been initiatives to issue identity cards for all fishers and fish workers in the area, they are yet to be completed due to technical reasons. In the absence of any identity documents, checking squads are also finding it difficult to identify suspected wanderers in the harbour area. There are no accurate figures yet about the number of migrant workers who go for deep sea fishing from here. 

“There was a police aid post at Beypore several years ago to monitor the location. It was closed down citing manpower issues. The reopening of the same facility will help maintain law and order,” says a senior leader of the Fishing Boat Operators Association. He says there should be intensified night patrol by the coastal police. 

An elderly fisherman from Marad says clashes between migrant workers are now a usual sight in the harbour area because of the the poor presence of the police: “On Wednesday, a Kulachal native was admitted to the Kozhikode Government General Hospital after such a clash. The man has sustained grave injuries,” he adds. 

According to local residents, there were three major incidents of clashes at the harbour within a couple of weeks in which many migrant workers sustained injuries. They claim that some of the old buildings in the harbour area were emerging as safe havens for anti-social elements. 

Meanwhile, police sources say the night patrol has already been intensified in the area, noticing public complaints. Proposal for reopening the old police aid post will be brought to the attention of the higher authorities, they say adding that the Coastal Police will also review the situation.