Kerala govt fails to persuade fisherfolk to withdraw from Vizhinjam protest

We said they would only withdraw from the agitation if their demands had been fulfilled completely.

Kerala Fisheries Minister V Abdurahiman held talks with representatives of protesting fisherfolk on Friday over the construction of a port in Vizhinjam but failed to persuade them to withdraw from the agitation.

Discussions were held to resolve the problems being faced by the people living in the coastal belt of Vizhinjam due to the under-construction port.

Emerging from the meeting, fishermen representative Msgr Eugine Pereira said they were ''satisfied'' with the discussions with the minister on various issues related to the coastal community.

However, the protest will continue till fully addressing the fishing community's major concerns of coastal erosion due to construction of the port, he said.

''When the minister asked whether the protesters would stop their agitation, we said one of the major concerns of the fishermen community was the construction of the port and its various impacts on the coastal region. We said they would only withdraw from the agitation if their demands had been fulfilled completely. So, the stir will continue,'' he told reporters here.

In the meeting, also attended by Transport Minister Antony Raju, the protesters were informed that a decision in connection with the construction of the port would be taken next week after consulting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, sources said.

Expressing satisfaction over the government's assurance related to other issues of the fisherfolks, the representatives said the government has agreed to shift all the fishermen who have been staying in camps to rented houses, close to the upcoming Onam festival.

''The minister assured that a permanent housing facility would be set up for them and said suitable lands have already been identified in some places including a 17.5 acre land in nearby Muttathara for the same. It has also been assured that their rehabilitation process would be completed in a time-bound manner,'' Pereira said.

The priest said though the issue of kerosene subsidy was also discussed during the meeting, but the minister pointed out that a decision can be taken only by the Chief Minister and the state cabinet as it would impose a huge financial burden on the state exchequer.

However, he assured that the matter would be considered favourably by the government.

The meeting was held hours after a tense situation prevailed in the Vizhinjam port area as hundreds of fisherfolk, mainly women from the nearby coastal hamlets, pushed their way into the under-construction port site demanding the authorities to address their long-pending demands regarding livelihood issues.

A large number of coastal people have been staging an intense protest outside the main entrance of the multi-purpose seaport, located at nearby Mulloor, for the last four days pressing their seven-point charter of demands including to stop the construction work and to conduct a coastal impact study in connection with the multi-crore project.

Intensifying their agitation, the protesters took out a march this morning and pushed their way inside the project site and raised slogans against the government and the port authorities alleging that the unscientific construction activities were the cause of increasing coastal erosion in the region.

A group of protesters knocked down the barricades and entered the port site but the police and the priests of the Latin Archdiocese, who led the protest, tried to calm them down and brought them back to the protest venue at the entrance.

The protesters have been alleging that the unscientific construction of groynes, the artificial sea walls known as ''pulimutt' in local parlance, as part of the upcoming Vizhinjam port was one of the reasons for the increasing coastal erosion in the district.

Last week, hundreds of fisherfolk had taken out a massive protest rally in the state capital and laid siege to the Secretariat here with boats and fishing nets, alleging that the Left government was neglecting their demands.