Allow Tamil Nadu fishermen to resume work: Palaniswamy writes to Pinarayi

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy has urged his Kerala counterpart, Pinayari Vijayan, to help fishermen hailing from Kanyakumari district, who had left their boats at various fishing harbours or fish landing centres in Kerala, enter the state and also resume fishing once the fishing ban on the west coast gets over on August 1.

In a letter to Vijayan, he said that about 350 mechanized fishing boats and 750 traditional boats were left behind by the fishermen, who travelled home in view of the nationwide lockdown and travel restrictions following the Coronavirus outbreak.

‘These fishermen from Kanniyakumari district could neither go to Kerala to look after the maintenance of their boats, nor resume their fishing activities. There are around 25,000 fishermen families of Kanniyakumari district who have lost their livelihood for the past 3 months,’ Palanisamy said.

Since various fishermen associations of Kanyakumari district had requested the Tamil Nadu government to arrange entry passes for the fishermen to enter Kerala, Palanisamy requested Vijayan to issue necessary instructions to the appropriate authorities.