Pulicat fishermen seek GPS marking of fishing grounds across T.N.-Andhra border
Fishermen from 25 hamlets around Pulicat lake want GPS-based demarcation of fishing grounds to end long-running disputes between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Fishermen dependent on the Pulicat lake have asked the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh governments to demarcate their respective fishing grounds using GPS at the earliest, saying the existing markers are no longer reliable.
The demand was raised at a joint meeting held in Tiruvallur district on Saturday, attended by fishermen, MLAs and officials from Sulurpetta in Andhra Pradesh and Tiruvallur. The community representatives spoke for 25 fishing hamlets that rely on the brackish-water lake spread across the two States.
According to the fishermen, palmyrah tree trunks placed in the water to mark boundaries have become an unreliable system. The trunks rot in the salt water, and fresh disputes can break out whenever replacements are installed.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of violence in April 2014, when houses, boats, nets and engines in Chinna Mangodu village in Pulicat were set on fire by fishermen from Andhra Pradesh following a dispute over fishing boundaries. Since then, men from Tamil Nadu have largely stayed away from waters under Andhra Pradesh's control.
A source said the restraint had been strict, with only rare instances of Tamil Nadu fishermen entering those areas. As many as 199 police cases are still pending against men from fishing hamlets in Tamil Nadu. Fishermen from both States have been holding protests and submitting petitions to their respective district administrations, the source added.
After hearing both sides, Tiruvallur District Collector S. Kavitha and Tirupathi Additional Collector R. Govinda Rao decided that the current fishing arrangements would continue until the respective governments take a decision.
Fishing community leader Durai Mahendran said GPS marking should be completed without delay. Fishermen are suffering because of the dispute, he said, adding that clear demarcation of fishing grounds would bring peace to the villages and that the pending cases against the men should be withdrawn.