COASTAL PEOPLE’S FEDERATION
A-107/1, 14th Cross Street, Jawahar Nagar, N.G.O. “A” Colony, Tirunelveli – 627007
Phone: 0462 - 2554220; EMAIL: cpfsouth@gmail.com Mob: 98421 54073
Resolutions & Press Release
DATE: 29.10.2010 & VENUE: nellai junction railway station
We, the CPF, organized a mega agitation on behalf of Tirunelveli District Fishers in front of the Nellai Junction against the Central Government’s proposed notification on Coastal Regulation Zone 2010. The large gathering of Fisher people Consisting of Fishermen, Fisher Women and the Coastal Youth demanded that the proposed notification would definitely strike a death knell to all the fishers in India. It is intended to drive away all the fishers from the Coast and forbid them to fish in territorial waters. The large gathering of 3,000 People unanimously opposed this notification and wanted the Central Government to scrap this notification in toto and thus passed the following resolutions.
1. In the name of conserving the coast and the coastal waters, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, had published a notification called “CRZ 2010” in an undisclosed manner, in its website in English language on 15th, September, 2010. We strongly condemn the attitude and the procedure of MOEF to publish such notifications in such a manner, in an alien language, in an inaccessible medium to the fishers. We strongly oppose and condemn such process of eliciting public opinion.
2. We are forced to doubt seriously the real intentions of the Government by taking recourse to such crooked methods and undemocratic means of seeking stake holders’ opinion. We strongly urge the Governments to follow the democratic methods of communicating with the fishers while taking a decision that affects the fishers. We demand that such information to be available to poor fishers in their own native mother tongues and that too to be easily accessible and tenable through Print Media and Visual media.
3. It is has been already 44 days since the publication of this notification “CRZ 2010” in the MOEF website , we are very sorry to note that neither Political Parties in India nor the Political leaders in Tamilnadu nor the even Tamilnadu Government have not at all seemed to have bothered about this draconian , ANTI FISHERS & ANTI MARINE ENVIRONMENT notification. So, we strongly register our condemnation on behalf of the People present here about the callous attitude and the behavior of the vote bank mongering political parties in India and Tamilnadu for their convenient silence.
4. The Political Parties both in the centre and the state, after receiving the fishers votes, serve only the interests , agenda and welfare of the Indian business magnets and the MNCs . They unanimously welcome, enact and implement laws and projects. The Fishers who have gathered here hereby strongly state that the fishers will reject all the political parties who are favorable to MNCs and indifferent to the issues of fishers.
5. The Indian Fishers vehemently opposed and rejected the then proposed CMZ Notification, 2008 in July, 2009. Then the Moef conducted serious of 35 discussions all over india to stenghten the CRZ Notification 1991 in an unamended form. But the Moef has ignored all valuable discussions and disregarded them categorically and has come up with the new notification in the name of CRZ 2010 with all the rejected elements. So, the Gathering here is condemning the attitude of the Moef in total disregard of peoples’ views in this process.
6. After the devastating Tsunami experience, the Governments relentlessly are proposing or making a series of onslaught of the INDIAN fishers by way new laws, notifications, treaties, contracts. Such rush/push on the part of the Governments have had a great repercussions on the traditional fishers, their coast and their fishing since then .We strongly condemn that such acts of Governments would surely dethrone the Fishers from the Coast and Fishing and it would pave way for the commercialization , industrialization and privatization of coast and fishing for the interests of the MCNs. We strongly urge the Centre and the State Governments to stop such attempts against the welfare of the fishers. We strongly urge the Central Government to repeal the draconian notification CRZ 2010 immediately.
7. The Projects sponsored by World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been the only cause for the destruction of Fishers and their livelihood. We strongly that the Governments do not avail loans from such badly reputed institutions. We strongly urge the Government to cancel all the declarations and treaties like Indo US Nuclear Agreement, treaty, other atomic treaties with other countries and especially the ASEAN TREATY.
8. Before the Notifications or Laws could come into place, the Governments hurriedly permitting many hazardous industries like Nuclear Parks, Thermal Power Plants, Multipurpose (Private) Harbours, Coastal Mineral Mining leases, tourism plans in the 21 islands of Gulf of Mannar . This is an attempt to alienate Fishers from Coast and Fishing.
9. We condemn and demand that the Government to stop the process of constructing and setting up of Nuclear Parks in the koodankulam site by flouting all the environmental norms and data, starting from the selection of the site, misappropriation of details of fishers in the EIA, with out any consideration for the safety and disaster preparedness for the protection and livelihoods of the people around the plant site. We demand that the Government to withdraw the announcement of fishing ban around 500 meters in the koodankulam sea area from 1st of October, 2010.
10. There is severe sea erosion in all the coastal villages of Tirunelveli District due to illegal, environmentally destructive methods of rampant coastal sand mining, affecting coast, damaging fishing crafts and gears, sea water intrusion in to fisher’s dwellings, affecting even the cultural and religious sites especially in the coastal hamlet Uvari. It is matter of grave concern. So, We demand that the Government to stop the indiscriminate and illegal mining taking place in all the coastal stretch of Tirunelveli district and to protect the people on the verge of destruction , fisher houses, livelihood and the religious sites by taking war footing steps.
11. We urge the State and Central Government to intervene in the immediate release of the 41 missing Fishers from kanyakumari and Tirunelveli Districts and who are languishing in the Qatar Prison in almost six months. We demand that the Government to provide proper and adequate compensation to the families of missing fishermen.
12. At the end of all, The large gathering of the Fishers from Tirunelveli District expect the Governments to consider the feelings , the sentiments and demands of the agitating fishers as the total opposition of the fishers in the Tirunelveli district here against the proposed draft notification on Coastal Regulation Zone , 2010 and we demand the CRZ notification 1991 to be implemented in its original and unamended form to be made into law with the suggestions for strengthening the same CRZ 1991 from the document titled “FINAL FRONTIER “ acknowledged and accepted by Ministry of Environment and Forests on 16th July, 2009.
Thank you,
Yours truly,
Fr.Royappan ,
District In Charge, Coastal People’s Federation – CPF, the Village Committees, the Coastal Panchayats, the Fisher Federations and Coastal Women of Tirunelveli District, Tamilandu,India.
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