Visakhapatnam: Fishermen receive compensation

Visakhapatnam : The state government stepped up its efforts to reach out to fishermen, who lost their boats in a massive fire that broke out at the Fishing Harbour in Visakhapatnam, and provide compensation to them with immediate effect, state fisheries minister Seediri Appalaraju said.

Handing over cheques to the tune of Rs 7.11 crore to 49 victim families as their boats were gutted in the fire incident occurred on November 19, the fisheries minister reiterated that arrangements were made to pay 80 per cent of the total value of the boats that were gutted as compensation to the victims as assured.

“The YSRCP government is committed towards the fishermen community and it would continue its support to them through various welfare schemes like no other government had ever done,” Appalaraju said, adding that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was keen on extending support to the victims within a short span of time.

The cheques were given in the presence of IT minister Gudivada Amarnath, MPs Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao and M V V Satyanarayana, YSRCP regional coordinator YV Subba Reddy, MLAs Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar, Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Tippala Nagireddy, joint collector K S Viswanathan, YSRCP Visakhapatnam district president Kola Guruvulu, among others. They said that the Chief Minister made sure that the compensation reached the victims at the earliest.

Forty-nine boats have been identified to be damaged in the mishap. Of them, 30 were completely gutted, while the rest had been partially impacted.

The loss of property was estimated by a group of officials under the close supervision of Joint Director of Visakhapatnam District Fisheries Department G Vijaya. The estimation of the damage was considered based on the date of purchase and license of the boats. About 400 fishermen, hamalis and small vendors who lost their livelihood due to the massive fire received Rs.10,000 each as compensation from the government.