Fisheries minister distributes cheques to affected boat owners

Visakhapatnam: Fisheries minister Seedari Appala Raju on Thursday distributed Rs. 7.11 crore through bank cheques to the boat owner who suffered losses in the fishing harbor fire on November 19.

Regional coordinator of YSRC, Y.V. Subba Reddy, Visakhapatnam MP M.V.V. Satyanarayana, Visakhapatnam South MLA Vasupalli Ganesh, YSRC district party president Kola Guruvulu and chairman of AP Matsyakara welfare and development corporation Perla Vijaychander were present.

Assistant director of fisheries G Vijayalakshmi said Rs. 7.11 crore was released for payment to 30 boat owners, which would be distributed according to size and length of each boat.

Similarly, an amount of Rs. 66.96 lakh was given to the owners of 18 boats that suffered damage. The money would be distributed based on the intensity of the damage to each of these boats.

Some 384 workers of the completely damaged boats and partially damaged ones have been given a relief of Rs. 10,000 each.

“The YSRC government always stood by the fishermen and quickly responded to such situations. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy announced a compensation within hours of the mishap. The government has been giving diesel subsidies of Rs. 9 on each litre and paying a compensation of Rs. 10,000 to each family during the two-month fishing holiday,” he said.

“The modernisation of the fishing harbour, for which Rs. 150 crore has been sanctioned, would be taken up soon.

The government would encourage biodegradable boats and give subsidies for the purchase of mechanised boats," the minister said.

The previous TD government paid only Rs.6 lakh for damaged boats. The Hudhud victims were yet to get their full compensation, he said.

Subba Reddy said the Chief Minister was moved by the fire incident and immediately announced compensation without looking at technicalities. Subba Reddy advised the boat owners to quickly take up repairs or procure new boats.

Vizag MP MVV Satyanarayana, Rajya Sabha member Mopidevi Venkataramana, MLA Vasupalli Ganesh and Kola Guruvulu thanked the Chief Minister for quickly disbursing the compensation.