Indian Chief Minister accuses Govt. of doing little to pressure Colombo over fishermen issue

As Tamil Nadu fishermen poured out their anguish during a State minister’s visit to Nagapattinam district in the State on Sunday, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami accused the Centre of hardly doing anything to pressure Colombo to “desist from day-to-day harassment and arrest of our fishermen, Deccan Chronicle reported.

In his first letter on Tamil Nadu fishermen issue to the Centre, Mr. Edappadi Palaniswamy accused the government of India of leaving fishermen at the mercy of Sri Lankan navy.

Tamil Nadu has been repeatedly urging the Centre to sanction a comprehensive project for conversion of mechanised trawlers into deep-sea long-liners and create the infrastructure to resolve the issue. 

“On the Centre’s advice, the first batch of fishermen has also been trained in deep sea long-liner fishing operations. But, despite our repeated requests, neither has the Rs 1,650 crore package been approved by Government of India nor does there seem to be adequate pressure built up on Sri Lanka to desist from day-to-day harassment and arrest of our  fishermen,” Palaniswami wrote in a letter to Modi. The letter highlights that 32 fishermen and 5 fishing boats have been apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy in three incidents on March 4 and 5, the report said.