Don't want spl camp, need bait curve, say fishermen in Mahabs

CHENNAI: The families of the fishermen in Mahabalipuram are not showing interest to go to the special camps arranged by the government in view of the Mandous cyclone . The fishermen said that they cannot leave their boats alone near the seashore during this situation.

In view of the Mandous cyclone, the Chengalpattu district administration formed 289 special camps in the district and requested the people who are close to the seashore and in the dense area to vacate their houses and stay in the camp for two days.

However, the fishermen families who are close to the shore in Mahabalipuram, especially in Kalpakkam, Sadras, Pudupattinam, and Alli Kuppam are not interested to stay in the camp arranged by the Chengalpattu district administration. They said that they need to safeguard their boats from the cyclone and if the boats got damaged they cannot afford a new one. The fishermen have tied all the boats with huge ropes on the shore to prevent them from getting damaged while there is heavy wind.

Ramkumar, a fisherman from Mahabalipuram, said for the past many years they have been requesting the government to set a bait curve so that they can manage water, but all their requests were unanswered by the officials. If they had constructed a bait curve now, we would not have many worries about our boats and houses, he added.