Fisheries Dept to seek nod for 4 more towers

KOCHI: The Department of Fisheries will  submit a proposal to the Central Government to install four new communication towers at different locations in the state.   The towers are aimed at facilitating communication between fishing boats. Surprisingly, the Fisheries Department is going to submit the proposal at a time when two towers already installed - at Ponmudi in Thiruvananthapuram and Thodupuzha in Idukki - remain defunct.The boat owners allege that the towers have been remaining defunct since its installation in 2008. They allege that the fishermen never get any benefit of these towers.“As far as we know, the department has spent around `60 core for installing the towers.  Equipment worth `10 to `15 crores were procured for upgrading the capacity. They were also never used. We suspect corruption in the procurement of these equipments,” said All-Kerala Boat Operators Association state general secretary Joseph Xavier Kalapurakkal.When contacted, additional director of Fisheries K A Saira Banu said the technical staff of the Department would look into the defects of the tower. However, she denied the allegation that the towers were not functioning from the date of installation. “They had been functioning earlier. However, for the past few months they are not functioning,” Saira Banu said.She also said the Fisheries Department had prepared a proposal for installing four new towers in various locations in the state. “The project was prepared to ensure safety at sea. The locations will be finalised later,” she said.