Fishing resumes in Cuddalore
Special Correspondent

Collector flags off mechanised boats

CUDDALORE: Fishermen resumed fishing, setting out in 100 mechanised boats from Singarathope near here on Wednesday. The Cuddlaore Port area, the takeoff point, reverberated with the thrum of engines when the boats departed.

The District Collector, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, flagged off the boats in the presence of the District Revenue Officer (Relief and Rehabilitation), M.S. Shanmugham, the Revenue Divisional Officer, Prabhakar, the executive director of the Pondicherry Multipurpose Service Society, Ratchagar, and the community leaders.

The Cuddalore Port area wore a festive look with festoons and shamiana put up for the occasion.
As per the statistics, there are 520 mechanised boats in the district, of which 52 are STBs (Stern Trawler Boats), 225 IBs (Illuhasan Boats) and 243 fibre-reinforced plastic boats with engines.
The dithering on the mode of relief and the repair works to be undertaken to damaged boats delayed the launching of the boats. Moreover, the annual ban on deep-sea fishing from April 15 to May 31 also kept the fishermen out of the sea.

Mr. Bedi said the Government had so far given away relief amounting to Rs 6.46 crores for making the mechanised boats (Rs 91.71 lakhs to 51 STBs, Rs 3.71 crores to 215 IBs and Rs 1.82 crores to FRPs) seaworthy.

In response to the plea for dredging the Uppanar, the waterway that leads to the sea mouth, for the smooth sailing and berthing of the boats, Mr Bedi said the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board would take up the task, and funds would be drawn from the Rs. 15-crore aid given by the Asian Development Bank.

The president of the Sonankuppam panchayat, K.N. Thangamani, demanded roads and other facilities.

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