Kakinada: A fight occurred between two fishermen groups – belonging to YSRC and Telugu Desam -- at the Kumbhabhishekam spot near the port here on Sunday.
The pro-TD fishermen led by former MLA Vanamadi Kondababu grouped together after they were asked by the YSRC leaders to vacate the market. When Kondababu was surveying the scene, some fishermen belonging to YSRC reached there and demanded that a part of the area be vacated and their leader would provide the TD fishermen with an alternative fishing market. This led to heated arguments.
The TD group fishermen demanded that the other side should reveal the alternative plan based on which they would take a decision. But the YSRC men were in an aggressive mood. The two groups began a fight but the port police intervened and drove both groups away.
Kondababu said the fishermen's vendors have been fetching fish from the sea to a mini-harbour near the market area for years. “The YSRC plans to hand over the site to the KSPL for the construction of a new berth. This would affect the fishermen's livelihood.”
He said the TD would not entertain such “corporate tactics” and protect the site for fishing vendors. “As soon as Jagan Mohan Reddy took charge as CM, the Praja Vedika was demolished in Amaravathi. Now he wants to demolish the market and spoil the livelihood of the fishermen community.”
The fishermen have installed and used the market sheds at one side of Kumbhabhishekam for a long time. For the past one year, the fishermen have installed sheds on the other side of the Kumbhabhishekam temple. They are using chemicals to store the fish for more days and these chemical residues are polluting the sea waters, market sources said.
