Glaston, 42, was among the dead in the Tuticorin firing. His family members tearfully recounted to a visiting team from inmathi soon after the incident about how he helped them flee the spot but he himself became a victim. Now, the inquiry commission has summoned him to appear before it and...
For former DMK president and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, Kanyakumari presented a political problem that gave him an opportunity to indulge in his trademark alliterative Tamil. “Tirunelveli is our border and Kumari is trouble [Nellai engalakku ellai, kumari engalukku thollai],” he said. The...
For F Palavendran, the recent collision of a fishing boat with a merchant ship off the coast of Kerala that led to the deaths of three Kanyakumari fishermen was all too familiar. “Four years ago, I survived one such collision,” says the fisherman from Manikudi. Palavendran lives in the same...
Three fishermen from Kanyakumari are among those who died when a merchant ship rammed into their fishing boat off the coast of Cochin. The fishing boat had gone from Cochin carrying 14 fishermen. On Tuesday early morning, some 14 nautical miles into the sea, the boat was anchored and the...
Nambu Rajkumar of Rameswaram had just bought a new boat. But, even before he could start repaying the loans he took for the boat, the Sri Lankan navy seized it. “In July 2016 our boat got captured. That was the only means of our livelihood. After it was seized, I came under terrible stress. I...
Not too long ago, the oil sardine was A Ilavarasu’s main catch. A country boat fisherman from Rameswaram, he says it is no longer the case although he recalls with optimism that three weeks ago his uncle netted a mini-bonanza of the fish, which he sold for Rs 5,000. Out of the more than 750...
Chinnapaalam is a small fishing hamlet near Pamban. The menfolk are countryboat fishermen while the women go to nearby islands like Krusaddai to collect seaweed. They go on coracles to the islands. In Thangachimadam, Pamban and Mandapam, seaweed is grown for commercial use. “We collect mainly...
Among the key contributors to dwindling fish catch is trawling that catches the hatchlings too. The target of trawlers is not hatchlings but they get caught in the nets and are scooped up. While hatchlings that come along with the fish are not consumed as food, they fetch a price as fodder for...
Ockhi was a landmark in the history of Kanyakumari. Home to one fourth of the fishermen population in Tamil Nadu, the district saw its people are at the mercy of forces of nature. Hundreds of Kanyakumari fishermen are still considered missing – their near and dear presume they are dead – and...
Twelve Rameswaram fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy have been charged under a new Sri Lankan law that prescribes harsh punishment for fishing in Lankan waters. The fishermen were produced at a court in Mannar and the hearing was postponed to Friday. The Indian High Commissioner’s plea that...
