Survival gets harder for fishermen as lockdown puts halt on sales

 INN/Chennai, @Infodeaofficial 

The corona epidemic has bothered the government and those suffering from the disease. To avoid further spread of this epidemic, both the central government and the state government announced a 21-day lock-down. Now, this lockdown is troubling many people who have not been infected with Corona.

The lockdown has disturbed the people and the government, but the brunt of it has been a matter of suffering even for those who have no connection with the disease. Tamil Nadu is situated along the coast, so there are a large number of people whose livelihood is dependent on the fishing business. Due to the effect of this 21-day lock-down, the lives of these people have not remained untouched.

Due to the lockdown, these people have not been able to go fishing or sail in the sea for the past one week. They are filling their stomach with the stock that was left with them, they are also getting exhausted, in such a situation, they have a problem of starving themselves and their families. Team Infodia has been continuously highlighting the problems of such people. 

We talked to some such fishermen, in which Nachikuppam fisherman Ranjit Kumar says he goes fishing in the sea every day which nourishes his family. He says the lockdown that the government has announced has been done for the benefit of all of us so that we can avoid this epidemic. Ethraj says that Nachikuppam has 350 fish shops and has been closed for 1 week. His income has stalled due to this captive. At the same time, due to the government’s order, he cannot even go fishing. In such a situation, no MLA and MP is coming to take care of them. His government is requested to take care of him and help him.

Fisherman Rupesh Kumar says that the family of more than 10,000 people in Neychikuppam is dependent only on fisheries trade. Men work fishing and women sell fish. Due to the lockdown for the past 1 week, they are neither able to go fishing nor sell. The state government has announced ₹ 1000 aid to help these people, which is not enough for them. They say that they will not be able to support their family with ₹ 1000 in 21 days lockdown. Cinema Devi, who lives in the same area, says the government has announced an assistance of ₹ 1000 due to lockdown. The lock-down has increased the prices of essential goods and they will not be able to do anything with thousands of rupees. She says that we support this loan of the government but the government should also think about us.

Kala Devi says that she and her family cannot live with the help provided by the government for 21 days. Parvati says that by eating the fish that they had, they have lived till now, but now they also have no fish left. The government has also banned fishing, in such a situation a very serious situation has arisen in front of them. She is upset thinking about how to feed her family. The government had earlier announced a 1-week lockdown which was later extended to 21 days. In such a situation, how will their families be fed with such a big problem? downBharti, president of the South India Fishermen’s Welfare Association, says the Nachikuppam area is home to a family of more than 10,000 people, dependent on the fisheries trade alone. There are more than 350 shops here, they have 200 small villages which they carry and catch fish in the middle of the sea. The entire business has cooled down due to the lockdown, being the leader of the union, everyone brings problems to them but they have no solution to these problems. He recently met the director of the department directorate and apprised them of the problems of these fishermen.

The department has also come to believe in their possible help, but if this help is delayed even a little, then these fishermen will come to the state of starvation. He has also urged the state government to allow him to catch and sell fish.

The fishermen should also be allowed to catch and sell fish in the same way that milk and vegetable food allowed to be sold so that they and their families can be fed. In this time of coronavirus pandemic, he will also follow all the rules of the government so that the disease cannot spread but he should be allowed to do his business.