Kochi: Fisherfolk in Ashtamudi and Vembanad, worried over loss of livelihood and usurpation of common resources by the tourism industry, have decided to intensify the agitation against the seaplane project.
The inaugural flight of the amphibian aircraft which took off from a waterdrome in Ashtamudi on Sunday could not land in Punnamada in Alappuzha, as planned, after protesting fisherfolk breached the security zone of the landing area.
Speaking to the Express, V V Sashindran, general convenor, Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee said the project is detrimental to their livelihood as it seeks to restrict the movement of fishing vessels. Quoting from the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project he said: “The maritime movement in the vicinity of the waterdrome should be bare minimum so as not to cause any obstruction/disorientation of the operation of the sea plane and movement of the fishing boats in the area needs to be regulated/controlled”.
Anil Kumar S, General Manager, Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Ltd, and a key official involved in the implementation of the project said: “There is a chance that the agency that earmarked tracts using marker buoys might have wrongly placed it. The area needed for waterdrome is clearly mentioned in the article written by the tourism minister which appeared on many newspapers on Sunday”. The article published in the name of A P Anil Kumar, minister for tourism said that the area needed for a waterdrome is 61.77 acres.
International specifications for waterdromes say they require not more than 1000m x 60 m (nearly 15 acres).
04/06/13 Nidheesh J Villatt/New Indian Express
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The inaugural flight of the amphibian aircraft which took off from a waterdrome in Ashtamudi on Sunday could not land in Punnamada in Alappuzha, as planned, after protesting fisherfolk breached the security zone of the landing area.
Speaking to the Express, V V Sashindran, general convenor, Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee said the project is detrimental to their livelihood as it seeks to restrict the movement of fishing vessels. Quoting from the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project he said: “The maritime movement in the vicinity of the waterdrome should be bare minimum so as not to cause any obstruction/disorientation of the operation of the sea plane and movement of the fishing boats in the area needs to be regulated/controlled”.
Anil Kumar S, General Manager, Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Ltd, and a key official involved in the implementation of the project said: “There is a chance that the agency that earmarked tracts using marker buoys might have wrongly placed it. The area needed for waterdrome is clearly mentioned in the article written by the tourism minister which appeared on many newspapers on Sunday”. The article published in the name of A P Anil Kumar, minister for tourism said that the area needed for a waterdrome is 61.77 acres.
International specifications for waterdromes say they require not more than 1000m x 60 m (nearly 15 acres).
04/06/13 Nidheesh J Villatt/New Indian Express
