The Centre was mulling a scheme to provide communication gadgets to fishermen involved in deep sea fishing so that they could seek help during natural disasters, Union Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said on Tuesday.
Union Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan
Kanniyakumari:
The Centre was considering using technology to help fishermen during disasters and consultations were being held with officials about the scheme which would soon be launched in Tamil Nadu, he said. The necessity for such communication equipment was felt during cyclone ‘Ochki’ during which several fishermen were either stranded mid-sea or reported missing. The fishermen had blamed lack of advance information about the cyclone as a reason for their misery.
Radhakrishnan said information boards giving alerts on adverse weather conditions would be set up in ten coastal locations in Tamil Nadu. It would provide information regarding weather, he added.
Port infrastructure
“If Kanniyakumari district has to develop.,it should have port infrastructure, we have selected four sites for the port and efforts are on to establish a port at Enayam,” he said.
“But some vested interests and selfish people are opposing the same. I have told chief minister (K Palaniswami) also about the Kanniyakumari port project..I have told him nobody will be affected by the port,” he said. He said those against the development of the district were opposing the port. The government should take action against those who were instigating the public, he added.
“If a port is established in Kanniyakumari, fishermen here need not go to other states and they could process fish and send it abroad from here,” he added.
Satellite phone sellers from Kerala find new avenue in Kanniyakumari
Utilising cyclone ‘Ockhi’ and the lack of proper communication devices for fishermen, private players from Kerala are trying to sell satellite phones for fishermen.
Fishermen representatives fear that satellite phones may be misused for criminal activities. When the cyclone struck, some of the fishermen were stranded in mid-sea but they could not communicate to their comrades about their location due to absence of proper communication devices. So, the fishermen representatives demanded for good communication devices from the government.
Even when Narendra Modi, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Edappadi K Palaniswami, visited Kanniyakumari district fishermen representatives demanded a communication centre here. Justin Antony, Founding President, International Fishermen Federation, said persons from Kerala are approaching fishermen as BSNL employees.
When we demanded their ID cards they were not ready to show it. Also the satellite phones are priced at Rs 1.06 lakh. As there is possibility that these phones would be misused government must regulate their distribution, said Justin Antony.
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