TUTICORIN: As the DMK is gearing up for a campaign supporting the Sethusamudramproject with the party's treasurer M K Stalin planning to spearhead it in Tuticorin on July 8, fishermen associations have decided to counter it by staging an anti-Sethusamudramcampaign ahead of it.

Leaders of fishermen association came down heavily on the DMK stating that their proposed campaign is a mere political stunt for the upcoming parliamentary elections and the shipping channel project will wipe out the livelihood of the fishermen besides causing ecological damages.

Subash Fernando, coordinator of All-Fishermen Associations; Xavier Vaz, president of Mechanised Boat Owners Association; Johnson, president of Vadabagam Country Boat Fishermen Association; and Santiago, Raj and Stephen from Fishermen Association jointly addressed the media here on Wednesday and expressed their concerns on the Sethusamudram project and demanded its abandonment.

The leaders said that they will organise the fishermen communities of three coastal districts of Tuticorin, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari and carry out demonstrations against the DMK's campaign on project that will link the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka. They are convening a meeting with fishermen leaders of these districts to decide on their method of protest, they said.

The government has wasted public money of Rs 1,500 crore on this technically unfeasible project which will not benefit anyone. The projected benefits of development are a myth and the livelihood of the fishermen communities will be severely affected, the fishermen leaders charged. "We wonder how the ecologically protected marine space announced by the central government in its gazette can be dredged for the benefit of a few people in the name of development," rued Subash Fernando. "The fishermen have a single concern which is the safety of their livelihood - the marine wealth in the Gulf of Mannar. We will bring together all the fishermen to agitate against the project," Subash said.

Already, there is tension among the operators of mechanised boats and country boats over damage to fishing gear after it gets entangled in the propellers of mechanised boats. The country boat fishermen are compensated once in a year by the owners of mechanised boats for damages to fishing gear, the fishermen sources said. "If the ship operations commence, the damage to fishing gear, country boats and even mechanised fishing boats will be unbearable and who will compensate for the loss," a fisherman said.