The fishermen felt terribly let down by the state government as they have received no compensation for their loss.
The fishermen, who have been fighting for the last eight months for the compensation against the damage they suffered due to the oil spill after the to the collision of two ships MSC Chitra and MV Khalija off the Mumbai shore in August 2010, felt terribly let down by the state government as they have received no compensation for their loss.
The expert committee, appointed after the oil spill, recommended the compensation of Rs8.06 crore to be claimed from the ships involved in the incident. The report was submitted to the department in November, but even after the six months, the fishermen have received nothing from the government. Fisheries commissioner Hanumant Pawar’s stand favouring the big time players in the fishing business have irked the fishermen further.
In a meeting convened by the deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday at Mantralaya, the representatives of fishing community blasted the officials for their inefficiency. Their representatives alleged that the policies of the department were favouring big players in the trade. Ajit Pawar admitted the apathy on part of the fisheries department and assured the fishermen that he would take up the issue with the central government for ex-gratia assistance on an immediate basis. The department has now decided to move the court for the compensation from the shipping companies.
Damodar Tandel, president, Akhil Maharashtra Macchhimar Kriti Samiti said, “Nearly 2,000 fishermen were affected due to the oil spill in the Arabian Sea. The expert committee admitted the loss and recommended the compensation of Rs8.06 crore. The commissioner has recommended Rs4 crore to be handed over to the large scale fishermen that operate in the deep sea, in spite the fact that the spill had hardly affected the deep sea. The department also violated the fishing deadlines and guidelines for the use of the fishing nets to favour the big time players,” he said.
Ajit Pawar has directed the fishing department to prepare a report on the compensation for those who were affected.
“Since the then chief minister Ashok Chavan and environment minister Jairam Ramesh had assured for them of the ex-gratia compensation, we will take up the issue to the central government. We will demand for the immediate compensation from the contingency fund provisions,” Pawar said.
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