‘No fishing Zone’ clause removal from affidavit was to have better under resoltion of the issue: CG

Chennai:

Coastguard withdrawal of ‘No Fishing Zone’ clause in the affidavit in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court was to get a better resolution of the issue, a senior Coastguard official said on Friday

Speaking to reporters after delivering an inaugural address on National Objectives- Strategic Imperatives in the Far East, organised by National Maritime Foundation, Chennai Chapter and Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Madras Univerity here on Friday, Coast Guard Commander Eastern region S P Sharma said the clause was withdrawn looking at the bilateral relationship and the conscience of the government.

The Coast Guard had earlier recommended a No Fishing Zone of five nautical miles along the Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Border Line. The withdrawal of the affidavit and his statements comes in the wake of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa writing to the Prime Minister opposing Coastguard’s suggestion to declare Indo-Sri lankan International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) a ‘No Fishing Zone’.

“We recommended the measure as we could provide Indian fishermen cover within Indian waters only and could not operate in other nation’s water,” he said.

Toa query on why Indian fishermen are shot at near Sri Lankan border while similar things does not happen in Pakistan or Bangladesh, he said as per statistics “here have not been many incidents of attacks of Indian fishermen in Indian waters.”

“FIRs are not filed. So there are no complaints. It is only media reports. So, how do you justify?,” he said, adding that the issue was also taken up with Sri Lankan Navy but they deny such incidents.

A study was in progress to instal lighthouses along the Tamil Nadu coast that shall beam lights into the high seas during the nights to indicate whether Indian fishermen are within the IMBL, he said.

Meanwhile, Coastguard will be painting the boats of fishermen districtwise respecting the sentiments of the fishermen. “The colouring of boats becomes easier for the aircraft to identify which state they belong to,” he added.

The Coastguard has also increased its force level in Palk Bay. There were seven ships in rotation taking patrols. As of now, there is one big ship with a helicopter and one small ship patrolling in Palk Bay,” he added.