To protect fishermen from Sri Lankan Navy, Stalin announces 3 harbours near Rameswaram

Chennai: As part of its efforts to prevent attacks against Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday announced a new fishing harbour at Thangachimadam in the Rameswaram island which will allow fishermen to indulge in deep sea fishing towards South of the Indian Ocean.

Chief Minister M K Stalin told the Assembly that the government has already sanctioned Rs 150 crore for building the harbour in Thangachimadam, while accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not raising the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen with the Sri Lankan government during his visit to the island nation over the weekend.

He also expressed regret that the hope of seeing 97 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, detained by Sri Lankan authorities, return home remains unfulfilled.

The arrest of Indian fishermen from Pudukkottai, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Ramanathapuram districts in Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy has been a persistent issue in the Palk Strait for decades as the fisherfolk go near or cross Katchatheevu since the fish catch on the other side is good.

“We have issued a Government Order (GO) to build a new fishing harbour at a cost of Rs 150 crore in Thangachimadam to facilitate fishermen from the Gulf of Mannar region to travel towards the South of the Indian Ocean. The work on the harbour will start soon,” Stalin said. He added that Rs 60 crore and Rs 150 crore have already been allotted for two fishing harbours in Pamban and Kunthukkal in Ramanathapuram district.

S Emarick, a fisherman from Thangachimadam, told DH that the new harbours, besides helping fishermen to dock their trawlers, will also help them avoid going near Katchatheevu, the disputed island, looking for abundant fish catch.

“The distance to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) from Thangachimadam is about five hours as compared to two hours from Rameswaram. This will help us fish in our waters rather than crossing the IMBL and going Katchatheevu. The new fishing harbour has the potential to significantly reduce the conflicts with the Sri Lankan Navy,” he said.

Fishermen said the area has good fishing grounds and fishermen can even stay for a couple of days and fish. “We might still have to go to Katchatheevu on some occasions, but we can avoid it 90 per cent of the time if the new harbours come up. We just have to cross the new Pamban Bridge from Thangachimadam and head towards Gulf of Mannar,” Emarick said.

N J Bose, secretary, Tamil Nadu Boat Fishermen's Welfare Association, said the new harbour will provide a safe place for fisherfolk in the area to dock their boats and help develop Thangachimadam fishing village. “It is in the hands of the fishermen to head towards Katchatheevu or not. People are safe as long as they don’t go near the IMBL. This harbour will help people to stay longer in our waters and fish,” he said.

A majority of the boats and mechanized trawlers that venture into the sea from Rameswaram, Pamban, and Kottaipattinam in Pudukkottai district are owned by fishermen from Thangachimadam. The new fishing harbour is expected to bring further economic growth to this fishing village.

Emarick also said the government will have to spend more on creating berthing facilities and build auction centres and ice plants at Thangachimadam.

Stalin also announced schemes to provide technical training and necessary equipment to about 7,000 beneficiaries involved in seaweed cultivation, processing, value addition, and marketing and to support 21,000 fishermen for alternate livelihoods such as net making and repairing.

The Centre and State government did announce a scheme in 2017 to convert 2,000 trawlers into deep sea fishing boats, the fishermen say they aren’t enough and demand “greater transparency” in the discussions between two countries.

The Deep Sea Fishing scheme ended in failure with only 55 trawlers being converted into boats from 2017 to 2023 against the target of 2,000 by 2020. Fishermen said the scheme wasn’t financially viable for them as the actual cost of the fishing boat, including fishing nets, turned out to be Rs 1.30 crore as against the estimated cost of Rs 80 lakhs.