Indian fishermen happy about boat release, but concerned about damages

Indian fishermen’s leaders and owners of the 87 fishing vessels detained by Sri Lanka, were ecstatic when they learnt that the boats were going to be released this week on the orders of Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, the New Indian Express reported.

But they are concerned about the state of the boats, which might have suffered decay and damage due to months of neglect, and are seeking compensation from the Indian and Lankan governments, the report said.

“I am extremely happy to hear about the release. From the bottom of my heart, I thank the Sri Lankan President for it. But I fear that 47 of the 87 boats may have suffered severe damage as they have been in water for months, some for eight months. Their owners need to be compensated by the authorities,” said U. Arulanandam, a veteran fishermen’s leader of Rameswaram, was quoted in the report as saying.

The Director General of Fisheries, Nimal Hettiarachchi, said on Thursday, that on the instructions of President Sirisena, the Attorney General had sent word to the courts dealing with the boats‘ case, that he had no objection to their release. The courts at Kayts, Mannar, Point Pedro and Trincomalee were expected to order their release on Thursday.

According to another fishermen’s leader, Devadas, 30 to 32 boats are unusable.

“Returning these damaged boats will not bring much relief to the owners, who are already in a bad way economically. Many boat owners have been working as coolies or doing odd jobs in the fishing industry for the last several months,”  Devadas  was quoted as telling the  Express over the phone.

He said that he had met Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in connection with this problem and she told him that compensation is possible. The Tamil Nadu government had also promised to pitch in, he added.