The Hindu : Fishermen want CRZ notification strengthened

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 26, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Fishermen want CRZ notification strengthened

By K. Ramachandran

CHENNAI May 25. Fishermen associations in the State are stepping up pressure for strengthening the coastal regulation zone notification and evolving a statutory framework for recognising the rights of fishing communities over land, water and resources.

The associations have said their right to life is under threat all along the coastline, with property developers displacing them in some areas.

They have written to various authorities and also sought the help of the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, to ensure that their means of livelihood is not snatched away from them in the name of development. The cause received a shot in the arm when the National Commission for Women held a public hearing on the problems faced by fisherwomen and other women workers on the Marina coast, three days ago. Those who disposed said the State Government should withdraw the Memorandum of Understanding signed with a Malaysian firm for developing the stretch.

The fishermen, in the memorandum submitted to Mr. Fernandes, have argued that the statutory framework was required so that "the marginalised sections develop and prove to be inter alia guardians of our national borders." They chose Mr. Fernandes as it is understood that the Defence Ministry favours the proposal to deepen the Sethusamuthiram channel. This the representatives of local associations say, would have adverse affects on their livelihood.

Asked about the apprehensions on Friday, Mr. Fernandes said the issue had not been brought to his notice.

Representatives of the Tamil Nadu Fishermen Development Union and coordinators of fishermen movements of the State, in the memorandum drew the Minister's attention to the problems faced by them along the 6000-km coastline, specifically the 1,000 km coastline in the State. Apart from the economic, social or cultural point of view, the fishing communities were "important" and "unpaid" guardians of the "national maritime borders" and coastal waters.

The memorandum noted that over the years, the "unsustainable fishing" deep-sea vessels were threatening the livelihood of traditional fishermen.

Adding to their problem was rapid urbanisation. Coastal cities, which grew from fishing hamlets, were destroying the original settlements. Chennai was a case in point, having developed from a series of centuries-old fishing hamlets.

But these hamlets now faced the threat of displacement, after the Tamil Nadu Government entered into an MoU in January 2003 with the Malaysian Government to convert the Marina in Chennai into a seaside complex housing foreign embassies/consulates, hotels and resorts.

None of these could be achieved without evicting the eight fishing settlements, which supported over 1 lakh people including traditional fisherfolk, the memorandum claimed.

A recent notification of the Union Environment Ministry, making prior sanction of the Ministry mandatory for all projects with investment of more than Rs. 5 crores, appeared to provide a small check to the schemes contemplated by the State Government.

But the coastal communities' expectations could not merely depend on the Ministry's discretion. They required statutory protection from eviction of any sort, the memorandum said.

The original CRZ notification recognised the traditional rights of existing fishing communities, but it was not adequate in "sweep or substance" to meet the challenges faced by the communities.

These threats from erosion, unplanned activity and increasing urbanisation occurred all along the coast. "We hope that the defence establishment will, at least, belatedly recognise the strategic importance of the coastal hamlets and seek further strengthening of the CRZ notification... " the memorandum said.

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Fishermen want CRZ notification strengthened