[cr-india] radio for safety at sea

[sajan venniyoor]

Fisherfolk want radio services to promote sea safety
By Deepa Kozhisseri

NAGERCOIL : A Kerala-based fishworkers’ union wants to start community radio service to inculcate among themselves the culture of sea safety and to use it asa tool of empowerment for the fisherfolk.

With the tsunami highlighting the vulnerability of fisherfolk, Kerala Swatantra Matsya Tozhilali Federation (KSMTF) voiced the need to immediately start a daily broadcast of sea safety programmes as a step towards disaster preparedness.

“Community radio can be used to emphasise the importance of mechanical training for fishermen in case of engine failure, it can involve women and children in sea safety, educate youth,’’ said T Peter of KSMTF and secretary of National Fish Workers Union. He was speaking at a workshop for sea safety organizedby indiadisasters.org at Nagercoil recently.

KSMTF is negotiating with DC School of Management and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram to air an hour of safety programmes aimed at coastal communities through their campus FM radio station. India forbids use of airwaves for local communities – except educational institutions - but there are several instances where radio cable service have been in use in villages in the country. After the Supreme Court came out with a ruling in 1995 that airwaves are public property, activists have been campaigning to rid the waves of government control.

The potential of community radio in disaster preparedness has special significance for coastal communities it was felt at the Nagercoil workshop. `Coastal community radio can give fisher folk information on weather, tsunami warnings, market price, satellite data on potential fishing zones, ‘’ said Suresh Babu, an information and communication technology expert working with South Indian Federationof Fishermen Societies (SIFFS).

“A broadcast model for safety at sea has to be devised. It can source information from internet sites of NASA, Met Department, ISRO. It can have a hot line with Met Dept, Navy,’’ said Sajan Venniyoor, a community radio expert, now working with Doordarshan.

Representatives of fishing communities in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Kanya Kumari Rehabilitation Resource Centre stressed on the need for awareness and training for fisher folk especially in the small and artisan sector. The community radio, it was felt, has enormous potential as it addresses the entire community. “There is also need for subsidies for walkie-talkie, GPS, speedboats to find missing fishermen, early warning systems,’’ said Babu, a fisherman from Kanyakumari.

Fishermen from Kerala and Tamil Nadu stressed on the need for extensive plantation along the coast, a clamp down on sand mining to ensure protection of coastal ecology. “Only if the sea and the coast is protected will our livelihood and safety be ensured,’’ said a fisherman from Kerala. NGO representatives present reiterated that safety at sea is not a technological issue but a social one and they would have to network with each other to address the issue across the country. (indiadisasters.org, March 15, 2006).

http://www.tsunamiresponsewatch.org/trw/2006/03/19/565/
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20060320/cdadc17b/attachment-0002.htm