It’s just been a month or so since the Kasimedu fishing harbour was cleaned by the Fisheries Department but the wharfs and empty spaces are already littered with broken boat parts and rubbish.
This is due to the lack of no cleaning regimen for the harbour that gets close to 30,000 visitors daily. “There is no cleaning mechanism. People just sweep up their spaces whenever they can. But without bins to dump the waste, sweeping or removing the waste does not matter,” said Vinod, who along with the police and a band of youngsters, had removed 300 tonnes of waste from the fishing harbour last year.
Arasu, president of a boat owners’ association, said the harbour was under the control of the Chennai Port Trust and that they were collecting wharf charges regularly. “Nobody knows what happens to that money. The port does not want to take charge of the cleanliness, lighting or water supply inside the harbour. Control must be handed over to the Fisheries Department,” he said.
No exports
M.D. Dayalan of the Indian Fishermen Association said due to the lack of cleanliness, fish exports do not happen here. “We have been banned by the European Union due to a lack of hygiene. We send fish to Cochin from where they are exported, which is unfair to the fishermen here since they don’t get good rates for their catch.”
He also added that unless regular cleaning was taken up, crores of money invested by the State government to improve infrastructure would be ruined.
Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar said a system would be put in place soon to clean the fishing harbour. “We will maintain our assets,” he added.