A mid-sea standoff between two groups of fishermen, who had lined up in at least a dozen boats off the Parangipettai coast, was averted by the timely intervention of the police on Monday.
However, on the shore at Annankoil, closer to Parangipettai, not less than six vehicles, meant for transporting fishes, were damaged by certain miscreants. The offices of at least eight organisations procuring and exporting fishes in the region were ransacked.
With a tense situation prevailing all along the Cuddalore district coast, right from Thevanampattinam to Parangipettai, a strong posse of policemen have been posted, especially in the fishing villages.
Superintendent of Police Ashwin Kotnis told The Hindu that the scuffle ensued over the fishermen of certain areas violating the 45-day ban on fishing and moreover, crossing their areas to sell their catch to the exporters.
Normally, exporters buy fishes from the fishermen of Pudukuppam, Annankoil, Pudupettai and Samiarpettai. Since, the ban is in force, the latter have not ventured into the sea for the past one week.
However, they allege that the fishermen of Sothikuppam and Rasapettai continue to fish in fibre reinforced boats using the banned gill nets. Moreover, they sell the catch to the traders at Parangipettai affecting the interests of those from the four villages.
A couple of days ago, the fishermen of Pudukuppam, Annankoil, Pudupettai and Samiarpettai met and passed a resolution urging their counterparts not to violate the ban and demanded that traders not source fishes from the latter.
However, the traders reportedly maintained that they were not bound by such a diktat and it was up to the local panchayats to prevent the fishermen from going to the sea.
On Monday, as fish-laden boats from Sothikuppam and Rasapettai were heading towards Parangipettai, the fishermen in the Parangipettai region gathered to counter them. Meanwhile, certain persons on the shore smashed the windscreens of the vehicles parked there.
A team led by Chidambaram Revenue Divisional Officer Indumathi defused the tense situation. They later called for a peace meeting between the groups.
