Fishermen and the sea

Arindam Sarkar

Fear of being displaced from their homes and certain of being denied of their livelihood from the sea, fishermen of Haripur and Junput in East Midnapore district of West Bengal in India are preparing to launch an agitation against the mega projects lined up by the Centre and the State Government along the Bay of Bengal in July.

The plan to set up a Deep Sea Port at Junput (which is about 500 meters from Haripur); a Freight Corridor from Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to Haldia via Haripur; a Missile Launching Pad at Junput; and the Haripur Nuclear Power Plant has created a furore among the villagers and the fishermen living in coastal Bengal.

Utterly confused, the representatives of the Dakshin Banga Matsyajibi Forum (a fishermen’s association), Haripur Paromanu Prokolpo Pratirodh Andolan Committee (anti-nuclear plant forum) and Contai Fishermens’ Union met the Contai MP and the Trinamool Congress District President Sishir Adhikari.

Sishir Adhikari told them that in the next four years the Deep Sea Port, which will have a lifespan of 500 years, would be completed on 3,000 acres of land with an investment of Rs 6,000 crore. For the Missile Launching Pad, around 8 acres of land would be acquired. However, the MP assured the delegates that the Trinamool Congress government in Bengal was against Haripur Nuclear Power Plant and it won’t be set up.

“The slew of projects is going to harm the local people living in the coastal belt. Fishermen will be badly affected and the natural resources of the sea would be destroyed in the coastal area. These projects will severely harm the marine environment,” said Secretary of the National Fishermen Workers’ Forum, Pradip Chatterjee.

General secretary of the Dakshin Banga Matsyajibi Forum Debasish Shyamal said if these projects come up then about 15,000 people living in the coastal belt of Haripur and Junput would be displaced. And about 8,600 fishermen who are operating from the Fish Landing Centres of Haripur, Junput, Baguram Jalpai I, Baguram Jalpai II and Soula would be directly affected.

In this coastal belt, fishermen mainly catch Bhola, Ribbon, Bombay Duck, Prawn and variety of small fishes. Marine life will be destroyed and fishermen of this coastal belt will be left jobless.

“Although we are being assured that the Haripur Nuclear Power Plant won’t come up, we are still living in anxiety. If this plant comes up, more than 12,000 people of nine villages will be displaced. Five Fish Landing Centers will be destroyed and marine life will be totally finished,” claimed Debasish Shyamal.

According to President of Haripur Fish Landing Centre Bakul Kumar Bor, a nuclear power plant at Haripur will also seriously affect the other existing 41 Fish Landing Centres in the Contai belt and the three harbours at Digha, Shankarpur and Petuaghat from where the trawlers operate. At present, 2,500 trawlers and 3,000 country-boats fish in this coastal belt.

The fishermen’s unions have demanded that no project should be allowed to come up in this coastal belt that would affect their living and livelihood. Since small and traditional fishermen will face the brunt of developing a modern project, their livelihood should be protected. And finally, under no circumstances a nuclear power plant should be allowed to come up at Haripur – for, its ramifications would be serious on the people living in the coastal belt and the marine life.

“We should not kill our sea resources. Sustainable fishery should be preserved. Projects should not come up at the cost of environment, fishermen, sea and marine life,” said Pradip Chatterjee. In July, fishermen will gather at Contai Town Hall to prepare the road map for their agitation.