Visakhapatnam: Fishermen staged a protest at Visakhapatnam Container Terminal by blocking ships with their boats here on Saturday to demand that the company fulfill the promises made to them 20 years ago.
The fishermen entered the sea with more than 25 boats preventing ships from docking at the terminal. They also blocked the way of ships leaving the terminal.
The protest affected the routine activities at the terminal since morning. Exports and imports of goods worth hundreds of crore came to a standstill.
Fishermen were demanding that the company fulfill the promises made to them 20 years ago when their lands were acquired for the terminal. They said they were promised house sites of 60 square yards each, Rs 1 lakh cash and a job for every household but even after two decades the promise remained unfulfilled.
Leaders of fishermen said they had given authorities time till September 20 to meet their demands and since there was no positive response from them, they were forced to launch the protest.
A leader of Matsya Parisramikula Sankshema Sangham said the fishermen had given their lands as they were assured that injustice will not be done to them. He said the authorities had given them only Rs 25,000 but have neither paid the remaining nor allotted them house sites or provided jobs.
The fishermen’s group said they made representations to all the officials at different levels but no action was taken. The protestors warned that further delay in fulfilling their demands will have serious consequences.
Police and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were posted to prevent any untoward incident.
–IANS
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