Fishermen leaders have welcomed the reconstruction of fishing harbour at Mookaiyur, near Sayalkudi in the district and thanked former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for her efforts to build the harbour to decongest the Palk Straits and support the livelihood of local fishermen. The harbour, a long pending demand of the fishing community in the district, would go a long way in decongesting the Rameswaram fishing jetty and help to resolve the vexatious problem faced by the Indian fishermen when they entered into the Sri Lankan waters beyond Katchatheevu to fish in their traditional waters, they said, reacting to Centre giving its nod for the project. After its Project Sanctioning Committee (PSC) gave its approval to the project, the Centre gave the administrative approval for Rs. 113.90 crore with 50 per cent assistance. The State would allocate 50 per cent of the cost as its share and the tenders are likely to be floated soon. The government proposed to reconstruct the existing fish landing centre along with breakwater and wharf that would enable access to fishermen throughout the year. The new harbour would have facilities such as fish auction hall, protection wall, drying platform and net mending centre. We express our gratitude to former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who was very keen on the project and had repeatedly taken up the project with the Centre, P. Sesu Raja, Rameswaram fishermen leader said. A large number of Paravar’ community fishermen, who had migrated to Rameswaram island would return back after the harbour comes up, he said. Welcoming the project, U. Arulanandham, President of the Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF) said the demand for the harbour came up in the year 1985, when the fishermen faced the worst onslaught of the Sri Lankan navy. After the then Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran took up the issue, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi deputed a central team the same year but the project failed to take off immediately, he said. After the harbour comes up, fishermen would be able to take to deep sea fishing, down south and avoid their conflicts with the Lankan navy in the Palk Bay, he also said. Lasting solution This will definitely pave way for a lasting solution to the fishermen issue as more and more fishermen would be inclined to take to deep sea fishing, he opined. It was the pet project of Jayalalithaa and the harbour will largely benefit the fisher folk, M. Ilango, Chairman of the National Fisherfolk Forum said.
2016, The Hindu