Tension gripped the Gangavaram village in the vicinity of Gangavaram port on Wednesday, as some of the displaced fishermen made a vain attempt to immolate themselves in protest against the attitude of the port management in not providing the promised jobs to the displaced.

Some of the fishermen made an attempt to climb over the wall and enter the port, but they were prevented from doing so. The agitators complained that the port authorities had promised to give jobs to 300 persons, but 92 fishermen were still denied jobs. They blamed the port authorities and said their livelihood was imperiled by the construction of the port.

Mr Ch Venkataramaiah the local MLA pacified the agitators and assured them that he would take up the issue with the port authorities. He urged the authorities to keep their promises to the displaced fishermen.

The Gangavaram port authorities issued a clarification that it was a fact that 300 jobs were promised to displaced fishermen in Gangavaram village and so far 208 persons had been given jobs. The port wanted to provide jobs to the remaining persons also, but some of the villagers had moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court and obtained a stay. Due to a stay order given by the court, the remaining 92 jobs could not be provided to the local displaced persons.

The port authorities clarified that they had promised 300 jobs to the people in the nearby Dibbapalem village and the promise was kept and for the past 15 months they were doing their work peacefully. The port management did not have any intention of denying jobs to the Gangavaram displaced but due to certain problems arising within the village and the court cases the process could not be completed.

(Sourced from BL)