MADURAI: Fishing activity in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait will not be affected at all due to the implementation of the Sethusamudram channel project, the Union Minister for Shipping, T.R. Baalu, said on Saturday.

Speaking to the media here, Mr. Baalu said all good projects faced opposition. All the core issues concerning fishermen had been clarified through public hearings conducted in all coastal districts. Refuting charges that the meetings were held "hastily" and the views of the stakeholders were not properly looked into, he said, "in some districts the meetings were held thrice."

Mr. Baalu said: "Still I am and my officials are open to any kind of discussion. We are ready to clarify any genuine doubts." There would be no displacement of fishermen due to the implementation of the project and Rs. 60 crores had been allotted from the project cost exclusively for safeguarding the welfare of the fishing community.

"We could not imagine having four to five new fishing harbours (as part of the project) in the State otherwise," Mr. Baalu added.

Stating that no political party in Tamil Nadu was objecting to the channel, he said, "if somebody tries to instigate and exploit the fishermen, they will not succeed."

Allaying fears that the turbidity generated due to dredging work would affect breeding of fishes, he said dredging had been undertaken in Suez and Panama canals without any such negative impact. "We have been carrying out periodical dredging at the Tuticorin harbour for maintenance of depth," he said. Turbidity would settle down automatically.

Stating that the elected representatives of people had the responsibility to safeguard the welfare of the fishing community, he said he himself came from a family involved in fishing. "If they do not have faith in the Union Ministers of Tamil Nadu, I wonder, whom they [the fishing community] would believe in," the Minister said.

Asked whether a "no-objection" from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board was a pre-requisite to implement the project, he said, "as per the Statute, there is no necessity to get no-objection from any of the State Governments for this type of work."

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