Fishermen vow to stop boat cruise

Visakhapatnam: Fishermen welfare associations dashed all the hopes of HRD Minister and district administration plans to launch boat cruise from Slipway Jetty near Fishing Harbour.

The Minister, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, held talks with the welfare associations assuring them several options before launch of the tourism project in the presence of VPT chairman MT Krishnababu, local MP K Haribabu and district Collector.

The local MLA, Vasupalle Ganesh Kumar, who belongs fisherfolk community was given the reseponsibility of convincing the welfare associations.

The MLA told the reporters that boats submerged in the Hudhud cyclone would be salvaged for more space and ONGC jetty would also be given to them.

During the last two days, the associations confabulated and came to a conclusion that the project would harm them in the long run.

They believed that it would badly affect the very livelihood of about 50,000 persons including those depending upon fishing industry and other related workers.

The Fishing Harbour was built in 1977 to accommodate 120 boats and now it has 700 mechanized boats, 50 big trawlers as well as mini-trawlers.

The leaders claimed that fishing industry here has grown into number one position earning crores of worth foreign exchange.

“At any cost, in the interests of those depend upon the fishing industry, we will not allow the government to introduce tourism promotion through Fishing Harbour. We are not against the promotion of tourism and the government should have opted ‘Rushikonda beach’, the best suitable area.

Further, we have been demanding the government to remove the existing tourism boat from the Jetty No.11,” said Ch Sat yanarayana Murthy, president of Dolhin Boat Operators Welfare Association. Murthy told ‘The Hans India’ here on Monday that the government plan to promote tourism from Fishing Harbour is nothing but an attack on their livelihood.

“As the entry point is very narrow, we have been facing congestion to harbor our fishing boats for loading or unloading at the jetties, which are now in 11 in number. Of the total 11 jetties, Jetty No 1 was allotted to the ONGC. We have no Dry Dock facility to get our boats repaired and of the total six Cradles (to be used to lift the fishing boats for taking up repairs), only four are working now. We are paying Rs 221 per boat per month towards berthing charges to the Port, Rs 3,750 for a trawler and Rs 1,650 for a mini-trawler besides paying four paise on every litre of diesel to the Port as levy charges and still no improvement in basic facilities,” he lamented.

General secretary D Gangaraju, also opposing the proposal, asked the government to run it from some other different area.

President of Andhra Pradesh Mechanized Fishing Boat Operators’ Association P C Appa Rao too said that the mouth (entry point of jetties) is very narrow and the boat operators were now facing very congestion in harbouring the boats.

Opposing the proposal, he termed the idea of running boat cruise from the Fishing Harbour was wrong and it should be done from Rushikonda beach.