Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Jan 30: A delegation of fishermen from the district, led by MLA and parliamentary secretary to revenue minister, Pramod Madhwaraj, met chief minister(CM), Siddaramaiah, on Friday January 29 and narrated to him about the problems they have been facing when undertaking fishing in sea near Maharashtra state.

The CM, who gave a patient hearing to the tales of woe suffered by fishing community, promised them to speak to the chief minister of Maharashtra towards sorting out the problems faced by them. At the same time, he asked Madhwaraj to lead a delegation of fishermen comprising members the fishermen's association of the district to Mumbai and hold discussions with the fisheries minister of Maharashtra. Fisheries minister, Abhay Chandra Jain, had accompanied the delegation during its visit.

"Fishermen hailing from Udupi, Malpe, Kundapur, Kaup, and other places face undue harassment at the hands of their counterparts from Maharashtra when undertaking deep sea fishing near that state. Incidents like attacking fishermen from Karnataka and looting of their possessions have been occurring often. Some people who claim themselves to be fishermen from Maharashtra are indulging in such unlawful activities. Because of this development, fishermen from the state are wary of undertaking fishing near Ratnagiri, Dabhol and Devgad in Maharashtra. Protests are also being held at Malpe against these developments. Because of these attacks, fishermen have been losing crores of rupees as deep sea fishing has come to a standstill," fishermen leaders told the CM.

The CM also promised the delegation that a meeting of concerned officials would be convened to hold consultation about ways and means to tackle this problem and find a lasting solution to their woes, once zilla and taluk panchayat elections come to a close.