[Reader-list] Fwd: Fish workers’ protest in Alappuzha on September 8

[T Peter]

Fish workers’ protest in Alappuzha on September 8


STAFF REPORTER
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/fish-workers-protest-in-alappuzha-on-september-8/article5057760.ece

Fish workers will take out a rally and organise a public meeting in
Alappuzha on September 8 in an attempt to highlight developments
affecting their livelihood.

The protest will be organised under the banner of the Kerala
Swathantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation and the National Fish workers’
Forum (NFF), said T. Peter, the national secretary of NFF at a press
meet here on Saturday.

He said top among the list of demands was the strict implementation of
the National Green Tribunal’s directive banning sea sand-mining along
the coasts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. A separate Fisheries Union
Ministry, banning or reducing the movement of ships that could impact
fishing, and rehabilitation of those living in areas prone to coastal
erosion by providing them with 10 cents land and a house, were among
the demands.

Another key issue was the plan to lay a pipeline from the Liquefied
Natural Gas (LNG) terminal at Kochi to Kayamkulam along the coastline.
Mr. Peter said the move would derail the livelihood of thousands of
fish workers settled along the stretch. He said the unions were
against the seaplane project, since fish workers in the backwaters
would be affected by it.

He objected to the Union government’s dismissal of the State
government’s proposal to consider coastal erosion as a natural
disaster, and demanded that the Centre reconsider this proposal.

He said the grievances of fish workers in two districts in Odisha who
were banned from fishing for almost seven months to protect Olive
Ridley turtles must be considered. It was not that the federation was
opposed to environmental conservation. The government needed to bring
in special nets that were used in other countries to let the
fisherfolk work without harming the turtles.

On September 8, the rally will be taken out from Alappuzha
Collectorate to the municipal ground.