Lopsided development in the wake of industrialisation and shifting social structures are proving to be very risky for the residents in coastal habitations even as a higher risk in the form of cyclones and natural calamities posses to those living nearer to the sea coast. Stating that 58 per cent of fishermen’s villages lie within 1 km from the coast in the State, anthropologist P. Vijay Prakash says that all the residents of these villages are highly vulnerable and their standard of living was also very low going by the present day advancements. Delivering keynote address at the inaugural meeting of a conference on Marine and coastal ecosystems’ at Vikrama Simhapuri University here on Friday, Mr. Vijay Prakash said that most of fishermen’s families remained economically poor with little social advancements. There are nearly 508 fishermen habitations and villages along the 974-km long coastline in the State. Mr. Vijay Prakash said that a total of nearly 35 lakh fishermen have been living in these villages and, in many cases, three families live in the same hut or house with their kitchen material lying outside in the open. As per a study conducted in over 191 fishermen habitations, there are changes taking place in coastal habitations with men going out to fish in the sea, women vending fish and their children going to schools or colleges. Pointing out that there are nearly 8.38 lakh active fishermen and women in coastal villages, Mr. Vijay Prakash said that there was no clear information about to what other professions the rest of the fishermen population had migrated to over the decades. In their findings, it was noticed that 62 per cent of the fishermen were still using the country boats while majority of them are now slowly moving to use of fibre in place of wood in their boats.
2016, The Hindu