Police NOC must for Katchatheevu fest: Officials

A large number of fishermen participate in the annual festival which takes place in the disputed island. Last year, however, Rameswaram fishermen boycotted it because of the death of a fisherman, Bridjo, who was allegedly shot by Sri Lankan Navy. 

This year, the Bishop at Jaffna had already sent the invitation for the festival and planning is under way. On Saturday, a meeting chaired by Ramanathapuram RDO, Selvi Baby, was conducted in which fishermen representatives participated. 

In the meeting, officials conveyed to the fishermen that children less than five years should not be taken to attend the Church festival and people from other districts need to obtain a NOC from their nearby police stations. In previous years, only people from other states were mandated to get the NOC from Police but this year the same restriction has been made applicable to people from other districts of TN. 

In other measures, officials have decided to ban fishing from February 21 to 24. Furthermore, permission has been given to only 62 boats with each boat allowed to carry a maximum of 30 devotees. 

Fishermen were also warned to not to transport Sri Lankan refugees to Katchatheevu and also to bring back Sri Lankan nationals in the boats while returning. 

Sesu, President of mechanised boat fishermen association, said, “We are only allowed to operate after a thorough check but we are also subjected to extra check again in the mid sea. The checking, which often extends to hours, leads to a considerable delay with devotees not able to attend the festival on time.” After hearing them, officials assured that steps would be taken to reduce the checking time in the mid sea.