The National Fishworkers Forum India (NFF) and the Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace & Democracy (PIPFPD) have issued a joint statement to condemn the firing on Indian fishworkers by Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency (PMSA). One of the workers was killed and another injured when PMSA troops converged on two Indian fishing boats on Saturday, November 6, off the coast of Gujarat. The joint statement adds that while the Pakistan government statement claims the victims “were in Pakistan’s territorial waters,” the fishworkers have refuted that. 

The deceased was identified as 32-year-old Sridhar Ramesh Chamre from Maharashtra’s Palghar district. According to news reports, the Porbandar Navi Bandar police have also registered a First Information Report (FIR) against 10 officers of the PMSA. They have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 114 (presence of abettor when the offence is committed).

The injured fishworker was identified as Dilip Solanki (34), who according to The Indian Express was the captain of the boat named Jal Pari, and sustained a bullet injury, but is now stated to be out of danger. According to the NFF statement another boat was “taken into custody by PMSA”, while Jal Pari, which was trying to turn away, was fired upon. The boat, however “ managed to return to the Indian coast with 6 crew members and the body of  Shridhar Ramesh Chamre.” 

Sridhar Chamre,a fisherman from Palghar was shot dead in an unprovoked firing by Pakistan. Shame on all those who speak of Aman ki Asha cricket with the blood thirsty nation. I demand @MEAIndia take this up strongly with Pakistan. Our people cannot be fodder for the failed nation

— Priyanka Chaturvedi?? (@priyankac19) November 8, 2021

The PMSA reportedly issued a statement on November 8 and denied “firing on the boat and using lethal weapons against fishworkers.” However NFF states that Shridhar Chamare was “shot in the chest multiple times”. He was the helper on the boat and is survived by his parents, wife and two daughters aged 6 and 8. The NFF and PIPFPD state that they “have consistently demanded a ‘no arrests policy’ of  fishworkers – whose livelihood is based on the sea and have repeatedly warned both the  governments against any lethal action including firing. Yet these incidents continue to happen.”  

Every year, hundreds of Indian and Pakistani fishworkers are arrested by the neighbouring country’s naval armed forces. And every year, some of them are released as confidence-building measures by the governments. Once arrested, these fishworkers can be jailed from four months to a few years.

The Indian government has strongly condemned and taken serious note of the killing of an Indian fisherman by PMSA, reported Mirror Now terming it to be a case of “unprovoked firing.”

According to NFF,, this latest tragedy has put the spotlight back on fishworker arrests by the two countries. “The mechanisms available for faster release of fishworkers are  no longer effective in securing their early release or ensuring that they are not mistreated  in the jails. We have repeatedly requested the release of jailed fishermen…” stated the two organisations adding, “As per the United Nations Convention on Law of Seas (UNCLOS), those who  encroach upon waters, cannot even be arrested, let alone be fired upon by either security  force.” 

The arrest, they say, “takes away the dignity of their work”, and also pushes their families on the brink of poverty as they get very little support from anywhere. 

According to NFF, factors responsible for cross border fishing included “depleting resources in  the Arabian sea as well as the increasing industrialization across the coasts of India.” The statement recalled that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a public announcement way back in September 2013, at Palghar that once elected, his government will end arrests and killing of fishers.”

The NFF and PIPFPD have now asked that the civil society come together and “demand that the Indian and Pakistani  Governments act urgently to adopt a solution to this four decade-old conflict so that not another soul is lost to this mindless violence.”

According to a report in NDTV, as of February 2021, “Pakistan acknowledged that 270 fishermen and 49 civilian prisoners, who are Indians or believed to be Indians, are in their jails” adding that  “there were 77 Pakistan fishermen and 263 Pakistan civilian prisoners in India’s custody, the government had said in the Rajya Sabha.”

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The post When will Indian fishworkers be assured of their safety on high seas? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Raju, a healthy young man in his 20s who hailed from a fishing community in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district, must have gone to sleep on his boat anchored at Veraval in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district hoping that he will wake up in morning on April 22 to the good news that he will be able to go home soon to his village in Srikakulam district. He never woke up. Raju had died in his sleep that night. He was found still, by his friend who had gone to wake him up for morning tea. The cause of Raju’s death is unknown so far. The other fishermen on the boat speculate it was stress that killed Raju. 

Around 4000 fishermen who have been stuck for months on their boats, now harboured on the Veraval coast are probably feeling the same stress. Most of them had come here by train to work as contract fishermen in Gujarat as they do not own large boats backhome. They migrate mid-August, when the fishing season begins, and return home around mid-June, before the monsoon rains ground them. 

This has not been a good year for the poor fishermen working as migrant labourers on the shoreline of Gujarat, far away from their homes in Andhra, Maharashra, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. This fishing season had already faced a few cyclones and was barely starting again when they were hit  by the sudden Covid-19 lockdown on March 24. With the extension of the lockdown and the ban on inter-state travel via road or rail, fishermen like other migrant workers have been stranded wherever they work. Even though local governments have been instructed to provide accommodation the fisherman are living on their boats. While they do have basic food and water, there is no access to proper medical care, and social distancing remains a myth.

According to data from the National Fishworkers Forum, India’s mechanised marine fishing fleet, that provides for 80% of the country’s annual fishing  is manned  by migrant workers who come from Central and East Indian harbours and move to the West coast each season.

Their living condtitions on the boats are of course less than ideal, “and most likely in violation, of the Standard Operating Procedures under the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs” say fishing associations. Now stranded, most of the workers can just wait on the boat with no work and with no idea of when they can go home. They have been supplied food and water by the boat owners.

These stranded fishermen say they are stressed and just want to go home to their families.According to NFF officials fishing activities cannot be resumed under the present lockdown conditions even though exemptions have been granted by the Ministry of Home Affairs. They have been seeing financial relief a huge financial losses have already been incurred and even if the lockdown is lifted after May 3, it will not help the fishing sector. “It takes lakhs to run one boat, just the fuel is around three lakh, and another three lakh or so for the workers on board including their food and water etc,” said Veljibhai Masani, a social worker and presidents of  the Boat Owners Association, “this season is over, shut down”. 

While the boat owners are facing massive losses, the migrant workers stranded on the boat are facing great mental and emotional stress that is adding to their misery.  Raju’s is not the first death being reported from the harbour of Veraval, Gujarat said the National Fishworkers Forum. “A few weeks ago, in the period of the lockdown, another migrant worker starved to death on board a fishing boat. His body was cremated by the officials in Gujarat, but no further details of his death are known,” they said. The deceased was identified as T. Jagannathan,45, resident of Gara Mandalam, Kalingapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

There are also reports of accidents on board one of the boats, a worker D. Korlaiya, Chinnapallu village, Vizianagaram district is said to have sustained fratures in both his legs, his current condition is unknown. The boats, say NFF,  are designed as places of work and not residence, the workers have been stranded in over- crowded and cramped harbours. 

“There has been an absence in the state’s extension of services which has led to tremendous hardships,” they say that there is a “complete absence of relief and support from the government officials to address the extremely difficult circumstances under which the migrant workers are stuck.”  In spite of repeated efforts to reach out to local, State and Central officials, nothing has been done to address the issue at hand, say members of various fishing associations. 

According to an NFF statement, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has requested the Chief Minister of Gujarat to look after the migrant fishworkers. However, it is not clear if a discussion on bring them back home has been initiated by the two CMs.

“The continued neglect of the sector has resulted in the financial ruin of many boat owners; more troublingly it is now resulting in the death of workers,” stated the NFF. 

The fishing associations, have demanded that a task-force consisting of local, State/UT and Central government officials be put together, to coordinate relief efforts to transport the thousands of migrant workers back to their places of residence. They also asked that medical attention be given to support the fishermen’s physical and mental health, and to quarantine then  under the Covid-19 protocol.

“At this critical stage, the workers must be immediately air-lifted from Gujarat to Andhra Pradesh and quarantined locally since it has become clear, following the second death at Veraval harbour today, that leaving the workers on the fishing boats is endangering their lives”, said the National Fishworkers Forum members.

“However, the workers have not been consulted regarding their needs; similarly representations made by the workers at various official levels remain unheeded. The neglect of the workers is taking a significant toll on their physical and mental health with reports of panic attacks, and ultimately of death,” says NFF. 

The NFF has now demanded that the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and the Chief Minister of Gujarat must coordinate and arrange for the fishworkers to return back to their homes in Andhra Pradesh. “The National Fishworkers Forum recommends that the fishworkers from Andhra Pradesh be airlifted immediately from Gujarat, be medically examined and quarantined accordingly.”

They have also demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs along with a job for a member of the families of the two fishermen who have died on their boats in Gujarat.

The Hindu Businessline had recently reported that the Andhra Pradesh Government will be bringing back by sea route the thousands of fishermen who are stranded in Gujarat due to the Covid19 lockdown. However, the fishing groups and welfare associations have yet to confirm this. 

According to sources, thousands of fishermen from Maharashtra have returned home by sea route, to areas such as Dahanu, and are now under home quarantine as prescribed by the Covid19 protocols. According to Mopidevi Venkata Ramana, Minister for Fisheries, AP, told Business line that it is expected that special boats will be being arranged to ferry the the migrant fishermen back from Gujarat.

The post Imprisoned on their boats along Guj coast appeared first on SabrangIndia.

More than a decade later, locals continue to count the ecological costs of these plants.

Tragadi, one of the villages, is home to fishermen who realised that their catch has decreased dramatically after the plants were set up, while the village of Navinal, which was rich in horticulture and agricultural produce, saw damaged date palms and other fruits and reduction in farming.

Adani Power started the region’s first coal-fired power plant. The village of Navinal is about 8 km from the Adani Mundra plant. The Tata Mundra “ultra mega power project,” built by the Tata Group is also nearby.

The heated wastewater released from the plants containing saline, from the outflow channel of the plant, released in the sea waters at the rate of 600 million litres per hour, was badly affecting marine resources.

Apart from this, huge amounts of sand were deposited near wells used for drinking water, turning them saline and non-potable.

The coal dust and fly ash and the groundwater now contaminated with saline water have made farming difficult and many people have given up growing crops.

And this is when Budha Ismail Jam, a fisherman from Tragadi, and the people of Navinal came together to form MASS (Machimar Adhikhar Sangharsh Sanghathan) in 2010 and act collectively to make accountable the powers behind their woes.

In a conversation with TwoCircles.net, Jam explained how their lives had been impacted after the power plants were set up. “Earlier, I and my sons used to catch plenty of fish within a short distance of just 2 kilometres with just one fishing boat. But gradually our catch decreased and we had to sail at least 12 kilometres to catch fish. And since one boat was not enough, I had to avail a loan and buy 3 more fishing boats.”

“Today, our catch from the 4 boats equals the catch of one boat before the power plant was set up,” he explained.

They first complained to the companies about the damage to marine life and demanded that the companies switch to a closed-cycle cooling system instead of the open cooling system that required 3 times more water. But the company refused to comply.

Then, the people had a series of meetings with the whole community and the leaders approached a Delhi-based NGO called Centre for Financial Accountability’. The executive director of this NGO, Joe Athialy, helped the fishermen and farmers moved the complaint advisor ombudsman of IFC (International Finance Corporation). The ombudsman conducted an internal audit and submitted its report in 2012 and the CRP submitted its report in 2015 but nothing changed.

The Role of the International Finance Corporation
The IFC, which has its headquarters in the United States, has partially funded the TATA power project. The entire project costs $4.14 billion and the IFC has funded $450 million, while the remaining was funded by Asian Development Bank and other agencies.

IFC, which is a member of the World Bank Group, focuses on financing private sector developmental projects in poor and developing countries. The mission of IFC is to “carry out investment and advisory activities with the intent to not harm people and the environment.”

However while investing in the TATA Mundra Plant; they went against their mission causing damage to the environment, livelihood and health of the people.

Jam, also the leader of the fishermen community which is mostly Muslim, told TwoCircles.net, “due to the water contamination, many people here keep falling sick frequently”.

The Suit in the US court
Jam, Bharat Patel from the Fishing Union and Joe Athialy sent a petition signed by 30,000 signatories to the World Bank President asking them to withdraw the funds to the TATA project due to the environmental violations caused by the plant. They even wrote to Indian tribunals that worked on environmental issues.

They tasted brief victory when the nearby plants were halted. But operations resumed when the plant got environmental clearance a year later.

But after their petition reached the World Bank, their story became known in other parts of the world and soon activist lawyers from EarthRights International came to their village and met the aggrieved fishermen.

And thus in 2015 began the Jam et al v. International Finance Corporation trial. EarthRights International (ERI), an NGO which works extensively in defense of human rights and the environment, supported Jam and the others in suing the IFC in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia claiming damages and injunctive relief for the harm caused due to air, water and land pollution by the power plant financed by IFC.

IFC claimed immunity because groups like the World Bank were exempt from prosecution under the US International Organisation Immunities Act (IOIA), 1945. And in 2016 the court agreed that IFC enjoys ‘absolute immunity’ and dismissed the case.

But Jam and his team did not give up. They appealed again in the court of Appeals (which is like High Court) for the District of Columbia Circuit where again IFC won because the order of the district was upheld.

Just when things were becoming bleak, Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, a law school which offers hands-on legal experience in Supreme Court litigations, offered to help the litigants Jam, Patel, Earthrights International to move the Supreme Court of US in 2018.

Mundra thermal power station ( Photo from Wikipedia)

TwoCircles.net also spoke to Joe Athialy, who had attended the proceedings at Washington on behalf of the litigants back home and he explained, “We understood the importance of our case being heard in the Supreme Court when we learnt that out of 7,000 cases, the Supreme Court agrees to hear only 150 cases. And we were lucky our case was one among these. Here, all the 9 judges sit for all the cases unlike in India.”

“But in our case one judge, who was in the Appeals court, excused himself and the other 8 judges heard the case.”

He also explained that there were a lot of people present in the courtroom and that the entire proceedings were completed very fast.

And then came the verdict this year in February 2019, wherein the Supreme Court, ruled in favour of Jam and others and ruled that even International organisations can be sued and that they do not enjoy absolute immunity.

This was a landmark judgment and a huge victory, not just for the plaintiffs from India but to all the people who think that international organisations are not above the law.

On winning the suit Joe Athialy told TwoCircles.net, “This is a big deal not just for the people of Mundra but for multiple reasons because this is the first time in the world, a case against the World Bank has come to this level, this is the first time the immunity of the world bank is challenged. And this allows people anywhere in the world to sue the World Bank if there has been damage to the environment and lives of the people.”

“We believe this is another step towards holding these institutions accountable,” he added. “Now the case has been sent to the district court for further litigation.”

Apart from this case against the IFC, Jam, Patel and Joe have also written to the other financial institutions that have funded this project like ADB. They have also written to the pollution control board in India.

“We also wrote to the Indian Banks through whom the project is operating. But none of the banks has even responded”, Athilay said. “At least international banks respond. They don’t even have such policies”.

Jam says, “I am happy that our efforts have paid off and we have won the case. But I have asked for compensation for the losses we have incurred in our livelihood and I hope we will be given compensation.”

“I was offered money for not fighting the case but I stood my ground because I was not thinking of just myself but all the fishermen community,” he said proudly. But in a sad tone he added, “Earlier when our fish business was good, I had many dreams for my grandchildren. But today we are not earning half of what we did before and I don’t give much thought to my dreams.”

However, he hopes for better days if the courts order the power plant to stop the open cooling system then the wastewater outflow will be reduced and things might improve slightly better.

First published in Two Circles

The post How Budha Ismail Jam, a Gujarati fisherman, challenged multinationals in a US Court appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
As they had promised, the National Fishworkers Forum called for a nation-wide protest on 30th October 2018. The protests across the state saw a turnout of thousands of fishermen and the general public. NFF stands firm against any proposed plan of a shipping corridor as it endangers the lives of all fishermen.
 
The protests were a success in garnering attention towards the fishing communities and their plights at the hands of a disinterested government and an exploitative corporate nexus. In Kerala, Shri. K.V Thomas, Hon’ble Member of Parliament inaugurated the protests, standing firmly in support of all fishing communities. MLA, Shri. M. Vincent was also in attendance. In Maharasthra, various fishing unions convened in large numbers, rallied for their livelihood and opposed the government’s one-sided notification. Shri. Mahadev Janker, Minister of Cattle and Dairy Development, Fisheries, attended the protests and heard the fishing communities’ demands. Along with him, Shri. Rahula Navekar, Shri. Bhai Jagtap, Shri. Raj Purohit, Shri Jayant Patil, all MLAs, also participated. Numerous political leaders joined the protests across all coastal states and were in support of the fishing communities and their demands.
 
In Goa, amidst hundreds of fishermen, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effigy was burned as a collective sign of dissatisfaction. With a strong opposition to the disastrous effects of the Blue Economy, including the SagarMala project, various Goan Fishing Unions expressed their mistrust in the current ruling government. Furthermore, in West Bengal, all fishing unions submitted a memorandum outlining their fears and listing their demands to the concerned Ministry. Odisha and Tamil Nadu also saw a turnout of hundreds of fishermen standing in solidarity with each other and against the proposed shipping corridor.
 
Mr. Narendra Patil, The Chairperson of NFF and Mr. T. Peter, General Secretary have both pledged that if the government does not relent and continues towards establishing a shipping corridor, these protests will become nationwide and will reach Delhi too.
 
In this regard protests were held in Gujarat: Kutch, Porbandar, Veraval; Maharashtra: Mumbi Port, Ratnagiri and Malvan; Goa: Vasco fishing harbour; Karnataka: Mangalore, Karvar, Malppe harbours; Kerala: Kochin port, Chellanam harbour, Vizhinjam harbour; Tamil Nadu: Colachal, Thengapattanam, Muttam, Chinnamuttam and Nagapattinam harbours and Ramnadu; Andhra Pradesh: Guntur Bapatla; Odisha: Bhubaneswar Rajbhavan; West Bengal: Contai and Diamond Harbour.
 
If the government, does not heed the demands of the fishworkers after this protest, the NFF is planning to take a massive campaign across the coastal states with immediate effect.
 
Speaking to Sabrang India, Thomas Peter, the General Secretary of NFF from Kerala had earlier said that the govt was acting on corporate interest to implement their SagarMala project which connects all the ports in India. “We are trying to meet the minister for shipping and the govt but they haven’t spoken to us. How can they take such a decision without knowing how will it affect the fishermen community and people dependent on the coast for livelihood? If we go deep sea fishing beyond 15 nautical miles, we won’t be able to find proper fish, consumers won’t get what they need and we will lose our livelihoods. If we trespass the corridor, we get arrested. If we go into international waters, we get arrested. The ministers sitting in Delhi don’t understand what they are doing in the name of development,” he said.
 
National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) executive committee and fishermen leaders meeting was held on October 7, 2018 at Velsao Panchayat hall, Goa and they decided that National wide protest campaign against the proposed shipping corridor will be held on 30th October in all the coastal states. It was said that all fishermen will protest with their country boats and mechanized boats in the sea, wherever possible.
 
Affiliates of the National Fishworkers Forum: –
 
1. Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan (MASS – Gujarat)- Usmangani Sherasiya- 09427443976
2. Maharashtra Machhimar Kruti Samiti (MMKS) (Maharashtra)- Kiran Koli- 09702-265813
3. Shramik Macchimar Kriti Samiti (Maharashtra)- Ravikiran Toraskar- 092259-00303
4. Goenchea Ramponkarancho Ekvott (GRE- Goa)- Olencio Simoes- 091588-75851
5. Coastal Karnataka Fishermen Action Committee (Karnataka)- Vasudev Boloor- 09449207805
6. Kerala Swathanthra Malsyathozhilali Federation (KSMTF- Kerala)- Jackson Pollayil- 09349447166
7.Ramnadu District Fishworkers Union (Tamil Nadu)- Paul Samy- 094423-22393 –
8.Vangakadal Meen Thozhilalar Sangam Tamilnadu (Tamil Nadu)- Dr.Kumaravelu- 09442867035
9. Karaikal Fishworkers Union (Puducherry)- Vedavalli- 09047984880
10. Democratic Traditional Fisher’s and Fish workers Forum (Andhra Pradesh)- Debasis Paul 08555809779
11. Orissa Traditional Fish Workers Union (Odisha)- K. Allaya- 09437-069286
12. Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum (DMF – West Bangal)- Millan Das- 078724-07611

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The post Indian Fishworkers protest at 23 ports and harbours against proposed shipping corridor appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
 
The body of a fisherman is brought to shore on Dec. 13 near the northern Keralan town of Kozhikode. (Photo by IANS)

With about 650 fishermen still missing a month after the Ockhi cyclone hit the southern Indian coast, hundreds of families spent Christmas and New Year in lingering hope of their return, but optimism is fading fast (UCAN report).

The central government has admitted that the number of missing fishermen are 661. Central Minister of Defence Nirmala  Sitharaman told parliament on Dec. 27 that 261 from Kerala and 400 from Tamil Nadu are missing. No one has been rescued since the announcement. Official government records show 76 people died in the Nov. 29-Dec. 5 tragedy in the southern tip of India covered by the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Cyclone Ockchi has received scant media attention and coverage in ‘mainstream’ media.

“It indeed was a very sad Christmas and New Year for us. With children waiting for their fathers, and wives for their husbands, how will families celebrate?” asked Robert Panippillai, leader of a volunteer group that works in the coastal areas near Thiruvananthapuram (formerly Trivandrum), Kerala’s capital.

He said his 59-year-old brother Cletus Panippillai drowned. Leaders like him say thousands of fishermen were at work when the cyclone hit the sea on Nov. 29 because officials failed to issue a warning in time.

Panippillai’s brother and three others were on a boat. Two escaped by clinging on to the capsized boat. “My brother and a co-worker struggled for hours but were reported drowned,” he said.

Hopes for the missing men are now fading among local people who say even those who go on month-long fishing trips come back a day or two before Christmas in the mainly Catholic area, where Portuguese missionaries brought the Catholic faith in the 16^th century.

“We were expecting more to return before Dec. 24.  But unfortunately none of the missing have returned even for Christmas. It dampened the spirit of Christmas in the coastal village parishes,” Panippillai said.

Thousands of clay lamp candles were lit on the internationally known tourist beach of Kovalam in Kerala on Dec. 30 to pay homage to victims of the cyclone. Many foreign tourists also participated in the solidarity campaign for the victims.

On Dec. 29, marking one month since the disaster, Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the government had decided to avoid New Year celebrations in the coastal areas in view of the disaster. His department would join state efforts to help the coastal people, he said. 

However, confusion continues about the number of people dead and missing, with Catholic Church officials producing a different figure from the federal government, while the state government issued a third set of figures. 

Kerala state’s latest figures released on Jan. 3 say only 141 fishermen from Kerala are missing. But the Archdiocese of Trivandrum says 317 people are missing and the federal government cites 261.  

At least 73 people have died in Kerala in the disaster, officials of the Church and state announced. But in neighbouring Tamil Nadu they clash as officials say only three are dead, while church people say 108 have perished.

Father Eugene Pereira, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Trivandrum, claimed that church figures are the most reliable because information was collected personally from families.

“The state government has to agree with our numbers. The federal figures are almost close to church figures,” he said, noting that correct figures are necessary to get government aid to the families of missing people. 

He said the state’s communist-led government continues to ignore the church’s data, forcing the church to think of legal action against the state’s failure to find missing people or admit them as missing. 

Church officials are calling for a judicial commission to probe authorities’ failure to ensure timely rescue operations. “We are in the process of initiating all the possible legal steps to peruse our rights,” Father Pereira said.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan distributed bank cheques of 2.2 million rupees (US$35,000) each to 29 families of the victims. 

He said the same amount of compensation will be given to families of all victims “irrespective of whether the fisherman is dead or still missing.” 

Trivandrum Archdiocese published a rehabilitation plan costing 1 billion rupees on Dec.30. 

The plan includes a township for people who were rendered homeless. Schemes for education and health for dependants of deceased fishermen are also part of the plan. 

“This package cannot be implemented by the archdiocese alone. The assistance of the parishes, good Samaritans, other dioceses and other Christian groups and organisations are necessary,” Archbishop Soosa Pakiam Maria Kalist told the media.

The post Despair: 650 Fishermen Missing after Ockhi cyclone appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Several Indian fishermen have pointed out that a local Adani project has not just displaced them but harmed the environment

Key points in the ABC Bulletin:

• Noor Mohammad said the Adani project's coal dust, stream discharge harmed the community
• Adani has been heavily criticised for a series of environmental breaches during construction of Gujarat project
• Comment was sought from Adani on measures it had taken to address the ash problem, but the ABC received no response

Ms Palaszczuk and eight regional mayors are preparing to sit down with the chairman of Adani Enterprises, Gautam Adani, ahead of the company deciding whether to proceed with the proposed mine.

The Queenslanders will be shown the Adani's Gujarat port and power station, which itself has a chequered environmental record, of which the local fishermen said Australia should be wary. Noor Mohammad — a fisherman in coastal Gujarat —said his home used to be in Mundra, where Adani's port and power project now stands.

He was forced out when the Adani project started, and relocated with his wife, two sons and their families to a camp nearby. But he and other fishermen, like Buddha Ismail, said the destruction of tidal mangroves and ash from coal burnt at the power station had damaged the fishing.

"The Adani project is harming us. Their coal dust and stream discharge are harming us," Mr Mohammad said, adding he now caught a quarter of what he used to."There are no fish in the sea water near the coast. All living creatures are dead."

Adani was heavily criticised for a series of environmental breaches during construction that included destruction of mangroves, failure to regulate the ash generated by the power plant and altering the flow of waterways to the fishing's detriment.

At Hazira, another site on the Gujarat coast, early last year a court ordered the company to pay nearly $5 million in reparation for illegal construction work, which damaged the environment and deprived 80 fishing families of their access to the sea.

Mr Mohammad and Mr Ismail said based on their experiences Australia should be wary of Adani."From our side, we want to tell them that they should force [the] company to run away," Mr Mohammad said.

"I want to suggest them to not allow an [Adani] plant there," Mr Ismail said.

The ABC sought comment from Adani on measures it had taken to address the ash problem, identified in a key environmental report in 2013, but received no response before the deadline.

Mundra is slated to receive coal from the Queensland Carmichael mine if it goes ahead.

Adani said coal would help expand power generation, providing some jobs and critically, cheap electricity to 100 million Indians still without.

Despite their criticism, the fishermen both admitted they would see things differently if their sons worked with the company.
 

The post Adani: Indian Fishermen warn Australia against Environmental Impact ahead of Coal Mine Talks – ABC News appeared first on SabrangIndia.

For more than 48 hours, C Dilli had not slept. He was visibly exhausted on Tuesday afternoon when he stepped out of his two-room house in Nettukuppam, one of the six fishing hamlets at the Ennore Creek, the estuarine mouth of the Kosasthalaiyar river in North Chennai.Dilli had spent all Monday morning transporting residents to relief camps set up in a high school nearby. And he had spent all evening trying to secure the village boats along with the other fishermen. But despite their efforts, the cyclonic storm Vardah – which swept through Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on Monday resulting in 10 deaths – caused massive damage to the village’s 120 boats, the repairs for which would mount up to a few crores, he said.

“For the boat having the least damage, repairs will cost at least Rs 10,000,” said Dilli, the president of Nettukuppam Fishermen’s Cooperative Society. “For others it may take up to Rs 60,000. And this is excluding the damage to the engines and the nets. We might have to spend a total of a lakh on each boat.”
 

Cyclone underestimated

The eye of the cyclone had been expected to cross the coast along the stretch between Ennore to Pulicat. The fishermen of Ennore knew that a storm was coming their way. They had seen warnings displayed on television about Cyclone Vardah.

“But we never even expected it to be this intense,” said RL Srinivasan, the president of a fishing cooperative in another village, Kaatukuppam. “After the flood last year, people are fearful of water, but they hadn’t seen the effect of a storm. They just thought it would be slightly windy for a short while. Although we were alert, we were still not entirely prepared.”

Fisherfolk at Nettukuppam testing their boats.

A Venkatesh, a resident of Mugathwarakuppam village, said that the damage caused by Cyclone Vardah in a single day was greater than 2015 flooding disaster in Chennai. “At that time, water came into our houses, but not as many boats were destroyed,” he said. “But this time, each and every one of them will require repairs worth thousands of rupees.”

Dilli said that last year, the government had given up to Rs 30,000 for the damaged boats. “But we had spent out of our pocket for the rest of the repairs,” he said. Many of the houses built with aluminium sheets have also toppled in these villages, not to mention the countless number of trees.
 

Financial disaster

T Siva, another fisherman, said that he would now have to take loans or pawn jewellery to fund the repairs. “There’s no money in ATMs, and sometimes the banks also run out of cash,” said Siva, who lives in Nettukuppam. “How do we withdraw the little savings we have to repair our boats?”

For the fishermen who go out to the sea to catch fish, like those of Nettukuppam, this is one of those months when they go out to fish only rarely since the sea is usually rough this time of the year. These fishermen depend on the little they have saved over the year to survive this month.

But the inland fishermen who fish along the river – like those of Kaatukuppam – face another kind of financial crisis.

Damaged boat that has sunk into the river.

Normally at this time of the year, an inland fisherman can easily make Rs10,000 a day, said Venkatesh. He said that during December rains, the river had plenty of prawns and was one of the very few profitable months for inland fishermen.

Srinivasan agreed. “Sometimes we catch so much that we store them in ice and send them off to the market in Kasemedu harbour. But for most other months, sea fishermen have more catch.”

But now the fisherfolk say that it will take at least a month to get the boats repaired. Dilli said it would take him almost three months to actually assess the repair costs of each of the fishermen, submit them to the Fisheries Department, get the reimbursement, if offered, and distribute it to the food fishermen.

“Last evening, the Chief Minister O Paneerselvam arrived at our relief camp to assure us that we would be taken care of,” said Dilli. “But with the cash problem and our badly damaged boats, they should give us more money this time.”

While most citizens of Chennai stayed indoors during the tempestuous weather, Srinivasan, Dilli, Venkatesh and a few others were driving from one villages to another, bringing people to safety and dragging their boats to shelter.

“It was terribly windy, wet and cold but we had no other choice,” said Srinivasan. “If we don’t have our boats and nets, we don’t have anything.”

This article was first published on Scroll.in

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