Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has constituted a special monitoring committee to address the complaints of the local fishermen of Vizhinjam that there was an unjust delay in fulfilling promises made in view of rehabilitation of local population affected by the ongoing port works.
The committee’s objective will be to review the progress of works related to the rehabilitation package and apprise the officials concerned.
The order in this regard was issued by the government on Wednesday. Interestingly, this is the first government order issued after the local fishermen called off their one-month-long agitation, stalling the ongoing port works.
While calling off their agitation, the fishermen had stated that it was only a temporary move. They would be closely watching how the government was working to fulfil the promises made to them for the next 30 days and if they felt there was any delay from the government they would relaunch the agitation.
According to the order, Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) special project director is the chairman off the committee. VISL director has been appointed as the chairman of the committee as the district collector is pre-occupied with Covid-19 duties.
District sub-collector is the convener of the committee. Fisheries department deputy director, Matsyafed general manager, representatives of Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Ltd (AVPPL) and VISL and representatives of Our Lady of Good Voyage Church, Kottappuram, under whose aegis the agitation was held, are the members of the committee.
The special monitoring committee must meet every 10 days and review the progress of rehabilitation projects. They must file reports to officials concerned and can even make recommendations on the course of action to be taken. AVPPL must provide infrastructure facilities for the committee to hold meetings, the order said.
The fishermen had called off the agitation on Sunday after the government issued orders addressing their demands. . This includes the renovation of Gangayar drain, replacement of old drinking water pipelines and surplus kerosene for fishermen using motorised fishing boats to cover additional distance as they can no longer fish in the waters under port project area.