Coastal community hit by sea erosion

ASSESSMENT: Probir Banerjee of the Pondicherry Citizens' Action Network apprising environmentalists, social activists and fishermen on the problem of sea erosion on Saturday. 

 

CUDDALORE: 

             A significant part of the coastal area at Chinnamudaliarchavadi in Villupuram has been lost to the sea. According to a conservative estimate, at least 200 acres of land along the 10-km coastal stretch, off East Coast Road, has been gobbled up owing to sea incursion or sea erosion.

            According to a study by Pondicherry Citizens Action Network (PCAC) in coordination with Federation for People's Rights, the 80-m-wide beach at Chinnamudaliarchavadi and two rows of fishermen tenements have vanished.

President of the PCAC Probir Banerjee told The Hindu that the study attributed this factor to two reasons: 

           inconsistent dredging at the Puducherry harbour and construction of groynes. These structures had caused devastations along the Puducherry and Villupuram coast.

            Sea incursion had become almost a common phenomenon, uprooting trees and pulling down the habitations of the fishermen, particularly on the Villupuram side.

            The water aquifer had become saline thus spoiling the groundwater for a stretch of four km inland.

           Mr. Banerjee said that the territorial government had spent Rs.20 crore on putting up these structures to safeguard the welfare of 150 fishermen. But wittingly or unwittingly it had caused permanent loss of livelihood to 7,000 other families.

Social, economic costs

             Had the harbour been properly dredged at an estimated cost of Rs.3 crore a year, things would not have come to such a pass. The environment, social and economic costs of this lapse were quite enormous and irreparable. Mr. Banerjee said that the natural resources were the assets of the country but the way these were plundered was a cause for concern. If the trend was not reversed, over a period, the GDP (gross domestic product) would register a negative growth.

             He noted that though the governments of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were said to have reached an understanding to tackle the issue jointly, no progress was yet achieved on this front. Therefore, the PCAC and the Federation for People's Rights, had appealed to the Union Ministry for Environment to find a permanent solution to the issue in coordination with Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments.

            They had also suggested the following measures: sand bypass system (a form of dredging) must be activated, capital dredging should be done and the harbour ought to be re-designed.

Fishermen apprised

              Mr. Banerjee on Saturday apprised the fishermen, social organisations and consumer activists on the impending threat posed by the proposal to set up a clutch of private ports along the Cuddalore coast. M. Nizamudeen of the Consumer Federation-Tamil Nadu said representatives of the SIPCOT Local Community Monitoring, Tamil Nadu Meenavar Peravai, Meenavar Viduthalai Vengaigal, Tamil Nadu Meenavar Padhukappu Iyakkam, Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) attended the session in which satellite pictures were presented to demonstrate the gravity of the problem.

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Fishermen return from sea after 10 days

CUDDALORE: 

              After nearly 10 days of nightmarish experience in the sea after their mechanised boat suffered engine failure, five fishermen returned home on Saturday night.

             They ventured into the sea from Cuddalore Old Town on August 19 and while fishing near Puducherry shore, the engine failed. Attempts to repair the engine were unsuccessful and the boat drifted away, P. Shankaran, driver of the motorised boat, told The Hindu.

                “There was heavy wind and the boat drifted close to the Sri Lankan shore. We had stored food only for three days and all these days, we survived on fish,” he said. Finally on August 26, the crew was able to repair the engine and reached Nagapattinam on Saturday. Again, the engine failed, he said. “Till we reached Nagapattinam, we were not able to contact our people through cell phone. On Saturday, we were able to contact the boat owner,” Mr. Shankaran said. A rescue team from Cuddalore was deployed and the boat was towed back. On reaching Cuddalore, the fishermen were given medical aid.

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It's time to mend boats, fishing nets

Right hour: Repair work on boats under way along the Cuddalore coastline.

CUDDALORE: 

             The sound of mechanised tools cutting into wood and polishing surface is being heard at select fish landing centres along the Cuddalore coastline. With the 45-day fishing holiday in force, carpenters are working overtime to repair damaged wooden frames and panels of boats.

            Hundreds of trawlers and mechanised boats are idling along the coast and it is the ideal time for the owners to mend their boats and fishing nets. M. Subramani, a trawler operator at the Old Town area, said that the fishing crafts need periodical maintenance to tackle the corrosive nature of seawater. Fishermen generally allocate a portion of their earnings for the task. Many carpenters have put up tents at places such as the Cuddalore Port area, Sellankuppam and Panchayankuppam.

            They mostly work on mahogany and neem wood, which would withstand the pounding of waves and the corrosive nature of seawater. K. Balu, a senior carpenter, said that repair works ought to be done deftly without leaving even a hairline gap or a weak spot in the craft structure. According to sources, the daily wages of the carpenters, which is usually between Rs. 300 and Rs. 400, would be between Rs. 400 and Rs. 500 during the fishing holiday. The boat owners would also have to offer incentives to retain the workforce. Most of the carpenters would prefer building new boats, and, therefore it would be difficult to engage them in small repair works, sources said. The owners also spend a lot of money on painting their boats and mending their fishing nets, the latter being an intricate and time consuming job.

பொது அறிவிற்கு: 


மிக நீண்ட காலம் சுதந்திர இந்தியாவின் குடியரசு தலைவராக இருந்தவர் - டாக்டர் ராஜேந்திர பிரசாத்

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Prize catch for Cuddalore fishermen

One of the whale sharks caught in Cuddalore on Thursday. 

  CUDDALORE:

              Fishermen of the Cuddalore Old Town area got prize catch in the form of whale sharks on Thursday. Two such sharks were caught in their nets off the port area in the early hours of Thursday, while two others broke loose by snapping the nets. The trawlers had gone for deep-sea fishing, the fishermen said, adding that they caught the whale sharks after a couple of years. 400 to 500 kg Each shark weighed 400 to 500 kg and took 15 fishermen to be loaded on to a truck. The fishermen jettisoned other smaller catches to make room for the prize catch in the trawlers. Whale sharks are locally known as “paal sura.” They are sought for the medicinal properties of their fins, sources said. Officials of the Fisheries Department said that whale sharks were found off the Cuddalore coast, but rarely caught in nets.

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