The Hindu

Mangalore, Feb 15:  Leaders of fishermen favoured a strong legislation that curbs violations of the coastal regulations by industrialists.

They were speaking at an informal discussion here on Saturday on strengthening the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 1991, here on Saturday.

What was supposed to have been a full-fledged consultation on the notification scheduled for the day had to be postponed because of the bandh here.

The programme was rescheduled for February 27 at the College of Fisheries.

Secretary of the National Fishworkers Forum Vasudev Boloor said that the original notification, which aimed at protecting the interests of the fishermen, got diluted over the years by frequent amendments. Now, there were many loopholes in the notification, which were beneficial only to the industrialists and the powerful, he said.

Fishermen’s leaders pointed out that in places such as Murdeshwar, star hotels had come up right in the sea, in total violation of the intentions of the original notification. Gangadhar of Dakshina Kannada Mogaveera Sangha said that in several cases, the industrial activities denied fishermen the access to sea, which they have been depending on for ages.

Advocate B.A. Mohammed Ali said there was a conspiracy to drive out fishermen from coastal areas for the benefit of the powerful. Umesh Uchchila, a fisherman, said the powerful were offering inducements to fishermen to ensure that they vacated the coast. As a result, many big bungalows and projects had come up on the coast, he alleged.

Advocate Satish Bhat’s view that it was wrong to presume that the coasts were meant exclusively for fishermen, was opposed by a couple of fishermen. They said, fishermen should be allowed to have their right to livelihood.