Fishers assured sustainable employment policy

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government will evolve a permanent and legally sustainable employment policy for fishermen from eight villages around Ennore, Energy and Law Minister R Nirmalkumar said on Tuesday after holding talks with representatives of fishermen's associations over their long-pending demands.

The meeting, held at the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board headquarters, focused on issues raised by fishermen from villages including Nettukuppam and Thazhankuppam, particularly employment opportunities, livelihood concerns, environmental protection and pollution control.

The meeting was held days after the Southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had restrained the Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Ltd from carrying out any construction activity related to the 2x660 MW Ennore SEZ Thermal Power Plant at Vayalur village in Tiruvallur district for four weeks, as the project is proceeding without a valid Environmental Clearance (EC).

The applicant contended that the CRZ clearance granted to the project in January 2014 had expired and that construction was continuing without a valid clearance. He also argued that the EC had expired on December 31, 2025.

Nirmalkumar said the government would formulate a recruitment framework that is legally tenable and can be followed not only for the current recruitment process but also for future appointments. He said the policy would be prepared after a detailed assessment of registered fishermen and fishing families in the eight villages, households that are genuinely dependent on fishing for their livelihood and those that are economically vulnerable.

Speaking after holding talks with representatives of eight fishermen's associations over issues concerning the Ennore Thermal Power Station, Nirmalkumar said the government would hold detailed discussions and take steps to address their grievances while ensuring the plant's operations continue. He also said plans would be worked out for installing Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) systems at thermal power plants wherever necessary in future.

Nirmalkumar said demands relating to environmental protection, ash disposal, waterways, river maintenance and contract works would be examined separately by the respective departments. Works that can be taken up immediately would be expedited, he added.

The minister said he would soon visit the Ennore region to inspect the issues on the ground. He said the consultations would continue, with officials compiling all the demands before another round of discussions is held to finalise implementable solutions.

On complaints of power interruptions in Chennai, the Minister said there were no major issues with the city's electricity network. He attributed most outages to underground power cables being damaged during civic works undertaken by contractors. He said the recent increase in temperature had also led to a rise in electricity demand.