In the wake of five fatal accidents at the entry / exit point of the Thaengaaipattinam fishing harbor in the last three months, fishermen have urged the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to sanction sufficient funds to restructure the “faultily designed” fishing harbour and permanently keeping machineries to remove sand getting accumulated in the harbour by the nearby Tamirabharani estuary.
They submitted a petition to Mr. Palaniswami when he met their representatives even while chairing a review meeting here on Tuesday to examine the ongoing anti-COVID-19 operations and the progress in execution of other development work.
Since sea erosion has become a menace threatening the existence of the coastal hamlets throughout the year, groynes with huge boulders should be constructed in all the coastal hamlets on the entire stretch between Rajakkalmangalam and Neerodi.
As the entire road connecting the coastal villages is in the worst shape due to inferior quality and sea erosion, this road, which is paramount for free movement of fishermen and materials required for the industry, should be re-laid afresh while ensuring superior quality.
Coming down heavily on beach minerals being mined by the Manavaalakurichi-based Indian Rare Earths Limited, the fishermen said the quarrying of sand on the beach by this public sector undertaking was the prime reason for the sea erosion in the coast. So, the government should take steps to permanently stop quarrying beach minerals in the district.
Since this region has more than 1,000 mechanised boats mostly involved in multi-day deep sea stay fishing, a control room should be set up at Irayumanthurai to transmit and receive satellite phone signals for alerting fishermen fishing 600 nautical miles away from the coast.
The check-dam being constructed at Parakkaani across the Tamirabharani should be relocated to some other place and the AVM Channel, passing through the coastal hamlets, should be desilted, the petitioners said.
