Fishermen's boats can enter M'lore Port under emergency situations: Palemar

Mangalore August 24: A meeting of fishermen and New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), under the chairmanship of Krishna J Palemar, State Ports and Environment Minister, was held in New Mangalore Port here on Tuesday, August 24.

Speaking to mediapersons, Palemar said that mechanized fishermen boats are allowed to enter the New Mangalore Port under emergency situations. He also said that the construction of Kulooru Jetty has pretty much been finalized and the only formality remaining is the Central Ministry's approval.

“The jetty proposal has already been taken up. The blueprint is ready and Rs. 40 lakhs have been spent on survey. We have finalized the budget for the jetty and it has been decided that the Centre will shell out 90% of the expenses and the state government will pay 10% of the total expenditure. The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of New Mangalore Port have agreed and have promised to supply the required materials for the construction”, Palemar revealed.

“The mechanized boats of fishermen were not allowed to enter the New Mangalore Port even during emergency situation. This step was taken to avoid possible terror attacks on the Port. But these measures have cost the fishermen a lot. Till the next board meeting, the mechanized boats will be allowed inside the port under emergency circumstances. The board meeting will commence within one month”, he said.

P Tamilvanan, Chairman, New Mangalore Port, speaking to mediapersons said that the Port handles 22 million tons of oil and 1.6 million tons of LPG, the largest in terms of quantity in the whole country. It therefore becomes difficult for Port authorities to allow the mechanized boats inside, he explained.

The board meeting would be attended by the 17 board members, the Chairman of the Port and fishermen. The board members include personnel from Coast Guards, CSIF, Navy, DC, representatives of Central Government and many other departments, he disclosed.

Ramachandra Baikampady, Chirman, Karnataka Fisheries Development Board, Krishnamurthy, Deputy Chairman, New Mangalore Port, V Ponnuraj, Deputy Comissioner, Mangalore, Shobendra Sasihitlu, President, DK Mogaveera Yuva Vedike, Vasudev Bolar, Secretary Karnataka Mogaveera Kriya Samithi, Nithin Kumar, President, Trawl Boat Union, Naveen Karkera, President, Persuine Boats Union, Coast Guard, CISF, Naveen Manjeshwar, Yathish Baikampady, Umesh Karkera, Devanand, Nagesh Salian, Harishchandra Mendon and many more fishermen were present in the meeting.