Fishermen in Vizag withdraw strike after Minister, MP assure action

Minister for Tourism, Culture and Youth Affairs, Muttamasetti Srinivasa Rao, Vizag MP, M.V.V Satyanarayana and Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) Chairman, Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao placated the fishermen, who were on a relay hunger strike, that their request of aligning the road would be addressed. On Sunday, 28 July 2019, the fishermen at the fishing harbor, Vizag demanded the removal of road dividers along with newly erected gates.

The Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) had built the dividers and erected the gates allowing the fishing harbour and the Visakhapatnam Container Terminal to operate independently. This was also done to ensure hassle-free traffic.

In contradiction to this development, the fishermen started a protest claiming that the VPT took the step to move the fishing harbour in Vizag along with the fishing folk from the area. This would be done by reserving 15-metre of the 27-metre for this project. This was accompanied by the protests of the  fishing folk. The fishermen were of the view that at least 15-metres of the fishing harbour should be left empty, i.e without any construction so as to secure their future needs.

The Minister, MP and VMRDA Chairman had visited the harbour and assured the fishermen that the work will be stopped until an amicable solution is reached. Moreover, they also confirmed to remove the road dividers, after which the fishermen withdrew the strike.