Condition of boats released by Lanka upsets fishermen

“Much to our agony, the boats were left in poor condition and each of the boat requires huge amount to make it fit for fishing,” an aggrieved boat owner Anandan Baiva of Rameswaram, told DT Next on Monday.

A 58-member fishermen crew on board nine boats headed off to Sri Lanka on January 17 to salvage the boats, but was disappointed on seeing the condition of such boats, Baiva, whose boat got detained on January 4 in 2016, said.

He said a boat would at least incur an expenditure of Rs 7 lakh to overhaul it.

“The government should extend financial support to us to resume fishing with the boats,” he added.

Meanwhile, Regional Deputy Director of Fisheries E Kathavarayan said a crew of 21 Pudukkottai fishermen set off to Sri Lanka from Mandapam on Sunday to salvage five boats. Besides, two more crews of 10 from Rameswaram and six from Nagapattinam would sail off on January 23.