Thiruvananthapuram:The fourth phase of the fisherfolk's protest against the Vizhinjam port and the alleged neglect of their demands by the LDF government commenced here on Tuesday under the leadership of the Latin Archdiocese with black flags being hoisted in their churches and the proposed blocking of the port's main entrance by the protestors.
Monsignor Eugine H Pereira of the Latin Archdiocese told media that the protest is being held with the slogan 'Vizhinjam chalo' and fisherfolk from across the state would be arriving at the main entrance of the port. Besides that, a bike rally would be held by the youth, he added. He said the protest was not just confined to the problems being faced by members of fishing community in Thiruvananthapuram, as those in Kollam, Alappuzha, Kochi and other coastal areas were also facing various issues, including coastal erosion.
Successive governments made various promises and announced several relief packages and projects, but either they were not properly implemented or in some places nothing happened at the ground level, the priest claimed. He alleged that the successive governments were more interested in taking the port project forward rather than listening to what the fisherfolk had to say.
He also alleged that the contract with the Adani group for construction of the Vizhinjam port was a "fraud". Another priest of the Latin Archdiocese told reporters that the agitation was against the government's "arrogant belief" that they can do anything in the name of development without taking into account the plight or suffering of a section of society.
The protesters have been alleging that the unscientific construction of groynes, the artificial sea walls known as "pulimutt' in local parlance, as part of the upcoming Vizhinjam port was one of the reasons for the increasing coastal erosion in the district. Last week, hundreds of fisherfolk had taken out a massive protest rally in the state capital and laid siege to the Secretariat here with boats and fishing nets, alleging that the Left government was neglecting their demands. (PTI)
