Are You Not Responsible For Migration Of Poor Fishermen, Chandrababu?  

Nandagiripeta, Srikakulam district: Today my Padayatra moved through Srikakulam and Amadalavalasa constituencies. Farmers belonging to Vanjangi village met me. They told me that Narsinga Rao lake here was not getting water because the canal from the 27th distributary of the right canal of Vamsadhara project had not been completed. They expressed their anguish over fields drying up due to lack of water for their crops. Their repeated pleas to government officials went unheard, they complained. Villagers belonging to Dusi complained that the TDP leaders excavated sand from the banks of river Nagavali with heavy machinery. The railway bridge standing on the river faced a serious threat, they feared. They said that their repeated complaints to government authorities fell on deaf ears.

They complained to authorities at the Centre and it was only after the Union Home Ministry took serious note of the danger posed to the railway bridge that the excavations on the riverbed stopped, they pointed out. They added that by then damage to the bridge had been done.

The TDP leaders, driven by greed, have scant regard for public safety. It is shocking to see this government indifferent to the needs of farmers of the area and not digging a minor canal over four and a half years to irrigate their fields. The same TDP leaders are busy digging sand by the riverbed round the clock!

Workers from Concast factory which has now been shut down met me. They had not been paid their salaries for six months. Without their arrears being paid or any notice being given, a lockout was declared overnight driving them on to the streets. About 700 families of these poor workers who went jobless overnight are suffering indescribably on account of this drastic decision. They were furious with the TDP government for doing nothing for the plight of workers and for not attempting to do justice to them. They also pointed out that the local MLA was responsible for the closure of the factory and plotted its shutdown for his own selfish political interests.

Fishermen who came from all over the district met me today. They expressed their anguish over fellow-fishermen who were detained by authorities in Pakistan for straying into waters of the neighbouring country. They hoped that there would be no migrations in the future and appealed to me to ensure that such a situation does not arise. They told me how fishermen were badly let down by this insensitive TDP government. The issue of compensation or ex-gratia to the families of fishermen who lost their lives at sea, was a clear example, they pointed out. Of the 200 fishermen who perished at sea, not even 10 families were compensated, in these four and a half years, they said. Even these families did not get the promised Rs.5 lakhs, as assured by Chandrababu Naidu, but only Rs.2 lakhs.

I have a question for the chief minister—your manifesto says that fishermen who go out to sea would be given 50% subsidy for diesel. What happened to this promise? Is it not true that fishermen had to migrate to other places in your tenure in spite of the long coastline here only due to the rapid growth of the middlemen system which impacted their livelihood?