:It’s that time of the year when hundreds of fishermen in West Bengal venture out to catch hilsa in the deltas of the Sunderbans. But now, they are a worried lot. With their business growing in the peak season, fishermen are falling prey to pirates from Bangladesh.
As fishermen explore creeks and canals in their trawlers and boats, pirates from Saatkhira, Khulna and Jessore loot their catch and kidnap them. With the state government turning a blind eye, they live in fear.
In the last one year, nearly 20 fishermen were kidnapped by the Bangladeshi pirates. Four tigers have also been poached by them, while invading into Indian territory.
The armed pirates also target honey collectors, loot all their collections, steal their boats and torture them. The pirates also fell trees for timber and steal wood . Last month, 12 fishermen were kidnapped from the Sunderbans. Three were released after their families paid Rs 1 lakh each.
While most of these operations’ take place within the Indian territory, the fishermen claim that neither Border Security Force (BSF) or Coast Guard come to their rescue.
Recently, three honey collectors from North 24 Parganas were kidnapped from Munda canal in Jhingakhali forest. They were rescued by police after their families paid the ransom. Another group of 10 honey collectors from Shaamshernagar in North 24 Parganas were kidnapped from Chamta island; seven were released after their families paid up.
Police found that two businessmen from Basirhat and Habra were involved with the Bangladeshi pirates and acted as negotiators.
National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) and Dakshin Banga Matsyajibi Forum (DMF) have sent memorandums to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, requesting the government to take action against the pirates. Pirates target non-mechanised boats. Last season, they attacked our fishermen seven times. Fishing in Sunderbans is becoming dangerous, NFF secretary Pradip Chatterjee said. Movement of Bangladeshi pirates is a threat to national security. Surveillance on the Indo-Bangla border is poor. Coast Guard and Navy don’t take any action. Inadequate patrolling in the Bay of Bengal encourages the pirates.
Pirates from Khulna and Jessore violate the Marine Fishing Regulation Act and enter within 20 km of India’s coastal zone and attack Indian fishermen. Pirates strike whenever it is convenient to nab a boat or a trawler. The Sunderbans is a huge catchment area for hilsa, pomfret, lobsters, tiger prawns and crabs. When Indian fishermen return with their catch, pirates loot and kidnap them for ransom, DMF leader Tejendralal Das said.
He added that coastal police stations are operational and more are coming up. These stations should have speed-boats and other equipment to tackle the pirates, Das said.
A police official admitted that despite having speedboats, they can’t use them as it requires a lot of money to buy fuel. That’s a big problem for us.
Both NFF and DMF admit that Indian boats infiltrate into Bangladesh waters unknowingly due to lack of proper communication and signal systems and are seized by their coastal police. The fieshermen then end up in jail. The government should install radio signalling devices in boats so that the Coast Guard can monitor their movements, DMF general secretary Debasis Shyamal said.
To protect the fishermen, state Minister for Fisheries Chandrakanta Sinha said that all fishing trawlers are being fitted with distress alarm transmitters (DATs) and that it has already been installed in 1,000 trawlers.
The West Bengal government is also planning to introduce special biometric ID cards for fishermen. The decision has been taken as part of the state’s plans to tighten coastal security.
A proposal will be forwarded for Cabinet approval shortly. First, the fishermen who are eligible for the card would be identified, then the process will be rolled out, said a West Bengal fisheries department official. After this, the state government will direct fishing boat owners not to rent their vessels to fishermen not having biometric IDs.
Any fishing boat owner violating the directives will be liable for punishment. Financial penalty will be imposed and even the license could be cancelled, the official added. The district administration will provide migrant fishermen with special photo passes.
States like Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have already started issuing biometric photo-identity cards to fishermen.
2015, The New Indian Express