15.12.11 Menas Borders Indian Coast Guard cancels proposal to ban fishing along Sri Lankan border

India's coast guard has dropped a controversial proposal to ban fishing along the maritime boundary with India. The Deputy Director of the coast guard, V S R Murthy, filed a new affidavit with the Madras High Court bench in early December removing a paragraph from the earlier claim which would have imposed a five-mile fishing ban along the border with Sri Lanka.

The coast guard's proposal was originally filed in November in response to a demand by the government that the coast guard bolster its presence along the boundary line. The government's order came in response to reports that Indian fishermen were being harassed by Sri Lankan naval and fishing vessels.

India's coast guard regularly detains Sri Lankan boats accused of straying into Indian waters. The most recent was on 21st November when two vessels were seized for violating the boundary and for carrying sophisticated communications equipment which “posed a high security risk for the coast”.

The affidavit proposing the fishing ban was slammed by Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who called it “outrageous” and sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Jayalalithaa said that Indian fishermen had always enjoyed the right to fish in the area without political or geographical boundaries, and noted that clearing up the issue of fishing around the boundary was being discussed by the Indian and Sri Lankan governments.

The coast guard's dropping of the offending paragraph, which drew parallels from the no-fishing zone imposed around the border with Pakistan, suggests that the Chief Minister has prevailed.

Sources: Times of India, India Law News