Government rejects Opposition's offshore mining allegations in Kerala

Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday rejected the Opposition's allegations that offshore mining is impacting the fishermen community of Kerala, saying the mining activity is yet to begin.

Moreover, he said that out of 13 offshore blocks, only three are in Kerala and that too, they are beyond 12 nautical miles, which comes under the exclusive economic zones.

He said when the mining has not yet started, "How you are saying that it is impacting the fishermen".

Replying to a Calling Attention Motion on hardships faced by the fishermen community, the minister said the government has taken a series of measures for the welfare of the fishermen.

He accused the previous Congress government of framing a law on offshore mining.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the cancellation of tenders permitting offshore mining along the coast of Kerala, Gujarat, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Flagging the threat to marine life, the Congress leader has said opening up offshore mining blocks to private players without any rigorous assessment of its impact was concerning.

Listing out steps taken by the NDA government, Singh said that measures like Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana and Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) are helping the fishermen of the country.

"The government has extended the fishing harbours in Kerala and under the FIDF, infrastructure development is being promoted," he said, adding that funds have been provided for new boats and fishing nets.

Due to the government's steps, the country's fish production has increased to 184.02 lakh tonnes from 95.7 lakh tonnes in 2013-14, he added.

Exports have also doubled to Rs 60,523 crore in 2023-24 from Rs 30,212 crore in 2013-14.

Share in the country's GVA (Gross Value Added) from the fishing sector has been increased to 1.12 per cent in 2022-23 from 0.84 per cent in 2014-15.

On an issue raised by DMK's TR Baalu about Tamil Nadu fishermen being arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy, Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have raised the issue with them.

A joint work group is also there for the issue and it has held six meetings so far.

Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal, who is MP from Alappuzha (Kerala) said that the fishermen community is facing a lot of hardships.

During the Kerala floods in 2018, the community played a key role in helping the people of the state but the government has now forgotten them, he added.

Venugopal said that despite the fact that India is the second-largest fish-producing country in the world, the government policies are "misguided".

"We lack basic reliable data about fishermen...how we will help them," he said, adding that there is a need to clean water bodies of the country.

He also asked whether the government has done any impact assessment study on offshore mining.

This mining will have "severe implications" for the community, he said.

"Are you working for mining companies of fishermen...How can you allow this mining without a proper study...somebody has to stop this..we can not allow this...Stop this mining," the Congress leader said.

"I request the minister to look into the issue," he said.

Baalu said that about 20 fishermen are in jail for more than six months in Sri Lanka.

He requested the government to intervene in the matter as "the fishermen are being harassed by the Sri Lankan navy".

The other members who raised the plight of fishermen include NK Premachandran (RSP), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Hibi Eden (Congress), Rama Shankar Rajbhar (SP), Kanimozhi (DMK) and Arvind Sawant from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).