Fishermen to meet PM, Jaipal Thursday

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posted on 13 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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RAJAHMUNDRY: The fishermen, who staged a protest at Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) oil rigs against the drilling opera..

RAJAHMUNDRY: The fishermen, who staged a protest at Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) oil rigs against the drilling operations, will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union petroleum minister S Jaipal Reddy on November 10,11 to highlight their plight, said Mummidivaram MLA Ponnada Satish Kumar.
Speaking to Express over phone on Tuesday, he said that with the lack of proper government policy, the oil majors were conducting drilling operations to their whim and fancy, threatening the livelihood of fishermen. He demanded the Union government devise a policy for granting permission to the oil majors for carrying out drilling operations. As many as 30,000 fishermen in Mummidivaram assembly constituency have lost their livelihood along with 15,000 in Ramachandrapuram, Pillanka villages due to drilling operations conducted by the GSPC, said the MLA. Because of the drilling operation by GSPC, the fish catch has gone down by 70 per cent, he said.

Briefing the future course of action, the MLA said that they would meet chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday to brief him over the plight of fishermen and on Nov 14, they would stage a protest in front of the collector's office.