The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court sought a response from the State government on a public interest litigation petition that challenged classification of a land parcel in Erayumanthurai village in Kanniyakumari district as a fishing harbour.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice M. Duraiswamy ordered notice to the State government and adjourned the hearing by six weeks.
The petitioner, B. Antony of Erayumanthurai, said the land was originally meenavar poramboke. Its classification as fishing harbour went against the welfare of the fishermen.
A meenavar poramboke land was for the use of the fishermen and it could not be used for fishing harbour activities. The change in the classification was carried out by the authorities without giving an opportunity to the local fishermen, he said.
The petitioner pointed out that Thengaipattanam was located on the eastern side of the village. The government had constructed a fishing harbour at Thengaipattanam. But, as the harbour was not constructed properly, the fishermen faced difficulties.
The constructional deficiencies in the harbour led to the death of many fishermen. The occurrence of high tides was not taken into account, he said.
