Team Herald
MARGAO: Traditional fishermen from Benaulim beach were livid after unknown miscreants burnt two of their canoes in the middle of the night.
Incidentally, the fishermen pointed out that this is the second instance where unknown miscreants burnt canoes, with the previous incident taking place two weeks ago.
According to Cassiano Fernandes, the owner of the burnt canoe boats that were docked at Vaddy beach in Benaulim, the losses he is facing is over Rs 15 lakh as his nets and tools which were inside the boats were also burnt.
He said, “The incident took place at 2.15 am on Sunday.”
Fernandes lamented that they tried calling the police and fire brigade, who helped out but had reached late and they were not able to save one of the two boats.
He said they managed to douse the fire in one boat but the second boat was completely burnt and cannot be salvaged.
Fernandes added that whoever had burnt his boat, was aware that the boats belonged to him (Cassiano).
He added that the miscreant used discarded tyres, which were covered in petrol and was later put on fire when it was kept near the boat.
Fernandes urged the authorities to investigate the matter and give him justice.
Another fisherman, Pele Fernandes, questioned why traditional fishermen were being targeted like this in light of the previous incident and this one. Pele also called on the Tourism Minister and Fisheries Minister to intervene.
Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas, who met the fishermen at the site, said the Colva police need to be handed over the CCTV cameras used by Drishti lifeguards at the earliest.
He said he will write a letter to the Director General of Police (DGP) as well as the other departments concerned. Viegas said the fishermen want results as soon as possible and the culprits to be nabbed.
Besides ensuring that the beach has functioning CCTV surveillance for security, Viegas also urged the government to provide traditional fishermen with a subsidised insurance scheme for their canoes as the present insurance schemes available to traditional fishermen are too expensive.
