The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Fishermen look to Government for help

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 28, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Fishermen look to Government for help

By Our Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM, DEC. 27. A large number of traditional fishermen here, sought help from the Government to compensate for the loss they suffered on Sunday when the tsunami damaged their boats and nets.

``A rough estimate puts our loss at more than Rs.5 lakhs. Some might have suffered Rs.3,000 to Rs.5,000 each. But for a poor fisherman who depends on his daily catch, this is a big loss,'' said the Corporator of the 20th Division, Ch. Pothuraju, on Monday.

Damage widespread

The crab nets, country boats of different kinds and "teppas'' (floats) were damaged as the huge tsunami carried them to a distance and took away the catch as well as the fish being dried on the beach. The cost of repairs to fibreglass boats was huge unlike in the case of wooden boats, he explained.

Kotha Jalaripeta, inhabited by thousands of traditional fishermen, forms a major part of this division. Mr. Pothuraju regretted that all the top officials and VIPs were visiting the Fishing Harbour but not showing the same concern towards traditional fishermen.

However, he appreciated the Visakhapatnam-I MLA, Dronamraju Satyanarayana, for taking up the case of traditional fishermen. The veteran Congress leader was constantly monitoring the situation on Sunday at Jalaripeta and the Fishing Harbour and was in touch with the Collector and other officials.

On Monday, Mr. Satyanarayana visited the Jalaripeta area and also the Fishing Harbour and assured the fishermen and others that the Government would extend them help. The Minister for Commercial Taxes, Konathala Ramakrishna, along with the Mayor, Rajana Ramani, also visited the Fishing Harbour on Monday. Mr. Ramakrishna told the mechanised fishing boat operators that a full-scale meeting would be held in a day or two to assess the damage and chalk out a relief programme.

Help promised

Though the Minister and the MLA were at the Fishing Harbour at the same time, both ignored each other. The Collector, Praveen Prakash, also visited the Fishing Harbour and assured all help from the Government. Police personnel in vehicles were present in the Fishing Harbour premises to extend help in case of an emergency.

Though people were still thronging the beach to see how the sea behaved, they were fewer in number compared to Sunday's crowd. None of them came to the Fishing Harbour. Their point of interest was the mechanised fishing boat, which ran aground near Jalaripeta.

Business resumes

The large number of fishing boats, numbering about 200, which were moved into the sea from the jetties of the Fishing Harbour on Sunday afternoon to avoid damage due to the frequent fall and rise in water levels, returned to the jetties on Monday morning. After a huge quantity of ready-for-sale fish was dragged into the sea from the jetties by the high tide on Sunday morning, the sale of fish resumed at the Fishing Harbour on Monday morning.

This catch was the one that was kept in the holds of the fishing boats or in cold storage. While the city was still on an alert, as the threat of another disturbance in the sea had not been ruled out, women from Jalaripeta performed pujas on the shore so that no further damage was done.

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