NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, MAR 4
Gujarat Congress MLA Punja Vansh on Thursday urged the Vijay Rupani-led government to take steps to stop “abductions” of Indian fishermen by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) off the state coast.
While the state government, during a discussion in the Assembly, claimed that such abductions have come down after a new law was implemented recently, the senior Congress member alleged that the law does not seem to be effective enough.
In September last year, the Assembly passed a bill to amend some provisions of the Gujarat Fisheries Act, 2003.
As per the revised Act, the fishermen are barred from entering the “no fishing zone”, which is an area 10 nautical miles from the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
The amendment was aimed at deterring local fishermen from straying into Pakistani waters near the IMBL in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast.
“Despite the new Act, 17 fishermen on board three boats from Gujarat were abducted recently by the PMSA. It seems that the Act is not proving effective. We have been discussing this issue in the Assembly since 1990. So what is the reason we are not able to stop such incidents?” Vansh said in the Assembly.
The senior MLA from Una seat raised the issue as the “matter of urgent public importance” in the House under rule 116 of the Assembly.
“It appears that the state government did not take adequate steps to stop such incidents. Though captured fishermen are released eventually, their boats do not come back. The government is not providing enough financial assistance to build new boats,” Vansh claimed.
In his response, state Fisheries Minister Jawahar Chavda said 17 fishermen from Gujarat were apprehended by the PMSA on February 23.
Such incidents are on the decline after the new law came into effect, he claimed.
“Fishing has been banned near the IMBL to stop our fishermen from going close to the notional boundary. The Coast Guard warns fishermen and sends them back if they come close to the no-fishing zone,” Chavda told the House.
