Fishermen will be reduced to coolies in trawlers

By Sangeetha Neeraja

11 Oct 2010 04:54:51 AM IST

Fishermen will be reduced to coolies in trawlers

CHENNAI: Mega projects along the coast, implemented in violation of existing norms, have the potential to rob poor, hardworking people of their dignity. Tales of once self-reliant people, who lost their livelihood, are many and no celluloid tragedy could be more poignant these real stories.

Take Vadivu (34). She was once a fisherwoman selling fish that her husband brought from the sea and the family was earning an average of Rs 10,000 a month. Today she is picking rags to survive and to keep her two children in school. Her’s was one of the 280 fishermen families evacuated from Kattupalli and relocated to a settlement in the middle of nowhere, to make way for what is billed as India’s biggest shipbuilding facility by Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) at a cost of Rs 3,375 crore in about 1,500 acres near Ennore.

Vadivu says: “The company has relocated us in a place near Kalanji, 4 km from the sea and 20 km from Ennore. We do not have any bus service in this area and no school for our children. We have to take only the mini tempos that pass this way to reach Ennore, and our men who now work in the construction site of L&T bring home around Rs 4,000 a month, which is not enough to feed the family. So the women have now taken to rag-picking and collecting sea shells.”

Before relocation, they had nutritious food with fish forming part of the menu. They are now surviving on cheap vegetables, whose prices are forever on the rise. Vadiu’s children aged 7 and 5, everyday take a tempo to reach Aathipattu Pudunagar, from where they take a train to reach their school in Ennore.

“The tempo fare per day for two children is Rs 60. Life has become extremely difficult. In Kattupalli, there was a school at walking distance. Many children have already dropped out of school because of the distance. Except for four persons who are still walking 4 km to do fishing, everybody has joined the ranks of construction work provided by the L&T. What will happen to us after the completion of the shipyard construction? Who will give us employment after that?” asks Vadivu.

Now with the government planning to amend the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms, there is a possibility of more development projects like multi-purpose ports, buildings by shipping companies, desalination plants, power plants, resorts, hotels and express highways coming up on the coast, leading to massive displacement of traditional fishermen out of their homes.

Most fishermen fear that this could soon become a reality. According to Pushparayan of Coastal People’s Federation, “The Tamil Nadu government in its 2010-2011 budget had announced multi-purpose ports — seven in Thoothukudi, four in Kanyakumari, three in Ramnad, and one in Tirunelveli. Already with the expansion of the Thoothukudi harbour, fishermen have been barred from fishing within three nautical miles in the sea, which is very rich in crabs and prawns.

In Vembar in Tuticorin, a gas plant by Indian Power Project Ltd is coming up. “Development projects along the coast will increase sea erosion. To stop it, they will cover the seashore with rocks, denying fishermen the opportunity of fishing around the area,” he points out.

Johnson (50), a fisherman from Thoothukudi, says: “The way industrial development is happening along the coast, traditional fishermen will be reduced to coolies in trawlers. Even that will come to an end in another 10 years as there will be no fish, going by the way trawlers are completely destroying the seabed, wiping it clean of the flora and fauna on which fish thrives. The traditional method of fishing is the only way to sustain the ecosystem, but sadly nobody is listening.”

Yet, the Tamil Nadu government is firm on industrialising the coast, argue activists. The Tamil Nadu Maritime Board has a Minor Port Development Policy, which is focused on encouraging setting up of captive ports, jetties and moorings for the port-based oil industries, thermal power projects and also multi-user ports on BOOT basis. In 2007, the State Government, while announcing its Maritime Policy, said that to improve the industrial and socio-economic activity, it was essential to take measures to ease the congestion in ports. From 15 in 2006, the number of minor ports has already gone up to 20.

According to M A Jayakumar of Coastal Community Protection movement: “The way the present governments in the State and the Centre are pushing for amendments to the CRZ notification, it is clear that the government is all set to completely wipe out the fishing community,” In Tamil Nadu alone, 15 lakh fishermen could be affected by the proposed amendments.

“Most of the ports and thermal power plants already violate the CRZ notification and public hearings for environmental clearance are stage managed by political parties. The newly proposed amendments would only increase the muscle power of the companies and the government to easily displace fishermen from their homes and deprive them of any viable livelihood opportunities. With fishermen out of their traditional livelihood, the sea ecosystem would be destroyed because of the amount of pollution that rampant industrialisation along the coast would cause,” says Arul Doss from National Alliance of Peoples Movement.

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