The Akhila Kerala Dheevara Sabha will oppose the government move to shift fishermen staying along the sea coast to interior locations. The organisation’s general secretary V. Dinakaran, a former MLA, said the move would pose hurdles to fishermen and urged the government to abandon it. Mr. Dinakaran said the effort to rehabilitate the fishermen in apartments away from the coast would hamper fishing activity. The fishermen would not be able to take care of their boats and nets if they were removed from the coast in the guise of setting up a green corridor along the coast. The move would deprive the fishermen of their livelihood. It smacked of a hidden agenda to promote tourism at the cost of fishing activity, he said. The sabha would oppose the government proposal to cancel licence for 10 years for boats with engines above 10 HP and the move to restrict the use of thanguvala’ and choodavala’, generally deployed for surface fishing,’ from May 1 to 31. He said Fisheries Minister Mercykutty Amma intended to create divisions among fishermen. Most fishing boats in Kollam were using engines slightly less than 10 HP while boats with more than 10 HP motors were aplenty along Alappuzha and northern areas.