The four boats and their crew were detained last week by fishermen from Nellore and were towed to Juvvaladinne Fishing Harbour (Representational image/PTI)
Four fishing boats from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, seized by fishermen in Nellore after they allegedly entered Andhra Pradesh waters, disappeared overnight in an incident that has led to a political spat.
The four boats and their crew were detained last week by fishermen from Nellore and were towed to Juvvaladinne Fishing Harbour. Following this, the Nellore fishermen were engaged in talks with local officials and political leaders, but in the meantime, on Saturday night, the four boats went missing.
The YSRCP has alleged that the ruling TDP’s leaders secretly negotiated with Juvvaladinne village elders and directed the harbour’s night watchmen to let the boats go to avoid an inter-state dispute.
YSRCP Nellore district president and former minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy alleged on Tuesday that the boats went missing with the involvement of Rajya Sabha MP Beeda Masthan Rao and TDP leaders. He alleged that the plan to remove the boats was executed from the Nellore Collectorate under the direction of Minister Kollu Ravindra, and demanded answers from the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, and ministers Lokesh and Kollu Ravindra, as well as district police officers, including SP, DSP, and CI.
He alleged that police, instead of supporting the local fishermen, were threatening and harassing them, showing what he claimed was the government’s lack of commitment toward fishermen’s welfare.
Beeda Masthan Rao Yadav has denied the claims. In a video statement, he said he had nothing to do with the missing boats. “Fishermen of Nellore have been requesting to resolve poaching and interstate fishing disputes for several months. I have not participated in discussions or the release of the Tamil Nadu fishing boats. The CM should order an inquiry into the matter. The AP government has taken up the issue of fish poaching with TN,” he said.
On Tuesday, to assuage the fishermen, the AP Fisheries Department deployed high-speed patrolling boats off the coast of Nellore to check poaching by fishing boats from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
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Endowments Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, who is from Nellore, said that the state’s Commissioner of Fisheries, Rama Shankar Naik, wrote to his counterpart in Tamil Nadu to direct fishermen from that state not to venture into Andhra Pradesh’s waters.
Reddy said that although the four trespassing boats were docked at the harbour and were under the custody of Nellore police, the crew managed to free the boats and sailed away.
“For several months, boats from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were being sized by local fishermen. These four boats were in the custody of local police, but there was collusion between certain individuals and the boats disappeared. These boats mainly launch from the Karaikal fishing harbour located between Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. As more and more boats venture into the sea, lots of disputes are occurring at the interstate borders. The Centre has power over the sea borders; states are helpless. We are appealing to the Centre to intervene,” Reddy told The Indian Express.
Reddy also said that fishermen of over 160 coastal villages are concerned about the mechanised fishing boats from TN and Puducherry venturing into Andhra Pradesh waters, often leading to confrontations at sea.
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Former YSRCP minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy said that mechanised boats from Tamil Nadu were illegally entering Andhra Pradesh waters, damaging nets and looting marine resources, severely affecting local fishermen’s livelihoods. “With no action from authorities despite repeated complaints, local fishermen risked their lives to capture four boats and keep them under their control. However, TDP leaders, in coordination with Tamil fishermen, secretly got the boats released without informing local fishermen,” he alleged.
