Nearly 750 workers and fishermen from other States working in the mechanised boats at the Malpe Fisheries Harbour want to return to their native places.
These fishermen from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh have been staying at the harbour ever since the lockdown on March 24. Malpe, the biggest fisheries harbour in Udupi district, has 1,700 mechanised boats.
Krishna Suvarna, president of Malpe Fishermen’s Association, told The Hindu that the mechanised boats stopped their operations since the lockdown. There were about 120 workers from the districts of North Karnataka. They had left in KSRTC buses in the last two days.
“We have informed the district administration that the 750 workers too want to go to their native places. The authorities have told them to wait as this is an interstate matter requiring concurrence of the State and other governments,” he said.
The association has been providing the fishermen lunch and dinner.
Meanwhile, G. Jagadeesha, Deputy Commissioner, said the State government had appointed nodal officers to deal with the issue of sending migrant workers back.
“We will start online registration of migrant workers in our district from May 2. We already have data of migrant workers at Malpe and to which States they belong, which we will inform the nodal officers. These officers will have to coordinate and get the consent of the other States to send them back,” he said.
