CHENNAI, February 6: Fishermen along the Tamil Nadu coastal areas will soon have two-way radios equipped to their boats to enable them to be in constant touch with the Coast Guard whenever they venture out to sea in rough weather.Thanks to the initiative taken by the Coast Guard Eastern Region in this regard, the state government is understood to have taken steps to provide the fishermen with VHF/MF sets that would help them send distress signals to the Coast Guard in times of trouble. Tamil Nadu is said to be the first state in the country which has taken steps to equip its fishermen with hi-tech distress signal gadgets.
The government would provide the two-way communication equipment to the fishermen at subsidised rates. Efforts are also on to provide identity cards to all fishermen for security reasons. Identity cards would help the search team of the Coast Guard to check infiltration of men and material along the coastal regions. Fishermen's boats, too, would be painted in specific colours dependingon the distance the fishing vessels cover usually.
``The state government has taken the lead in this direction. When this materialises, it will be the first time in the three regions of the Coast Guard that fishermen will be equipped with two-way radios at the cost of the state,'' Coast Guard Eastern Region Commander Commodore K V Subramaniyam told The Indian Express
.Despite weather turning rough during the monsoon, not even a single loss of life was reported on the seas in 1997.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
