Boats on the roads, officials at sea

In Akkaraipettai, 7 km from Nagapattinam, bulldozers, trucks and fire engines are jostling for space between boats that have been pushed on to the road by the tsunami.

‘‘The priority is to restore the livelihood of fishermen. Without boats, they can’t earn a living and will be dependent on help. We don’t know how these boats can be salvaged,’’ says group leader S. Nagaraj, also a fisherman. Between Nagapattinam and Akkaraipettai, some 700 boats were thrown ashore.

As dazed fishermen look at their boats and wonder how they got there, officials are wondering how to get them off the streets and into the water.

Fishing is the chief source of livelihood in Nagapattinam district. Tamil Nadu Fisheries officials say the turnover in the district alone is between Rs 80 crore and Rs 100 crore every year. Approximately 80,000 tonnes of fish are harvested by the district’s fishermen annually and the industry provides employment to nearly 5 lakh people.

No wonder officials are a worried lot. ‘‘With great difficulty, we moved two boats off the road using heavy-duty cranes, that’s how we managed to make way for fire engines and ambulances. But we still don’t know if they can be pushed back to the sea,’’ says Vijay Kumar, senior fire officer, Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service.

The Madras Engineering Group, Bangalore, of the Indian Army which moved in on Thursday to clear the area is also clueless when it comes to the boats. ‘‘It is going to be a tough task. We are concentrating on clearing the road so that vehicles can move, right now, we’re not thinking about how they can be moved to the sea,’’ an official said.

District Collector M. Veerashanmukhamoni says the administration is working on ‘‘a plan to rehabilitate fishermen.’’ ‘‘But we are still working out what to do. It’s a triple whammy for these fishermen — they’ve lost their families, homes and boats, the source of livelihood,’’ he says.

Each boat costs anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 15 lakh and many fishermen are already heavily in debt. They have taken loans from banks as well as moneylenders. ‘‘If the boats cannot be salvaged, we don’t know what we will do,’’ says Sundaram, a fishing boat owner.

It is a tremendous and difficult task. ‘‘If the fishermen have to move ahead, they need the boats. But we have no idea how we can do it. In Nagapattinam alone, 450 boats are on the roads. several are missing,’’ says Assistant Director of Fisheries, Nagapattinam, Abdul Kalam.

Officials from the office of Director of Fisheries say help has been sought from Navy officials and that a team is expected to arrive soon.