Fishermen to form ‘Manushya Sagaram’

KOLLAM: Raising their demand for protection of life in deep waters, the members of fishermen community will form a human wall titled ‘Manushya Sagaram’, which will stretch from Irayimmanthurai in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu to Manjeswaram in Kasaragod district.
 The protest programme, organised by the Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee, will be held at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Organisers told reporters here on Thursday that at least 70,000 fishermen and families of coastal villages in the district will join the ‘Manushya Sagaram’ and cover the 86-km coastal stretch of the district from Kappil to Azheekkal.
Participants are asked to reach the coast by 4 p.m. and a trial will be held at 4.30 p.m.  
The fishermen will take a pledge on their right to fish in the deep sea.
 Organisers of the programme said that fishermen venturing into the sea were increasingly facing the threat from ships passing closer to the coastal waters.
 The major demands raised by the protest programme include the revoking of piracy-alert issued to ships in the Arabian Sea off Kerala coast and denial of permission to ships to travel at 60 nautical miles off the coast.