Chirala: Bickering among fishermen vitiates peace in coastal villages

Chirala: The continuous and unending disputes of the border between the fishermen villages of Vadarevu and KatarivariPalem near Chirala and other coastal fishermen villages in Guntur and Krishna districts increasing the threat of law and order disturbances in the area.

It was a common practice for fishermen from the coastal villages in the state to go for fishing at the best placesto make a good catch, in the waters of the Bay of Bengal. The fishermen from the Vadarevu near Chirala also venture into the sea and fish at distant places. But for the last few years, they are complaining that the neighbouring Katarivari Palem fishermen are obstructing their fishing and confiscating the catch along with the nets and machinery and abducting the fishermen for entering the waters near to their village.

Velpula Ramana, former sarpanch of the Vadarevu said that KatarivariPalem fishermen are imposing hefty fines to release the fishermen of the Vadarevu village. He said that last Saturday, the KotarivariPalem fishermen chased five boats of fishermen from Vadarevu. He said that the Vadarevu fishermen managed to seize two boats of the KotarivariPalem with the help of other fishermen who came for support to them. The abducted fishermen were handed over to the police and complained attacking them in the sea.

Pikki Narayana, a fishermen leader from Vadarevu said that the locals are upgrading their skills and equipment with the latest trends to get more catch. He said that the Vadarevu fishermen catching more fish have become a problem and a reason to envy for others and they are not allowing them to fish in the spots near to their villages. He said that as the neighbouring fishermen are opposing them, the fishermen from the Nizampatnam and Machilipatnam area are also started opposing them for fishing and abducting the fishermen for using the advanced nets and machinery.

But, the fishermen from the KatarivariPalem say that the Vadarevu fishermen are not giving a chance for fishing. A fisherman, requesting anonymity said that the Vadarevu fishermen are using nets with small holes and are becoming a threat to even small fish and reducing the fish population in the area. He said that they are not opposing all fishermen, but only those who are using the tiny hole nets and mechanized boats that are disturbing the growth of the fish in the area and influencing the fish hunt in the future.

However, the police are trying to bring the fishermen to good terms by advocacy. Dasari Prasad, SI of the marine police station in Vadarevu said that the issue was there for a long time and the higher officials are working on it. He said that they will bring an amicable solution between the two villagers by counselling about marine laws and see there will be no law and order issues in the future.