A Profile of Machhimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan (MASS)

By SAJITH SUKUMARAN

The Origins:
Machhimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan (MASS) came up as a result of the community mobilisation and capacity building that 'Setu' has been doing among the traditional fishing communities of Kutch at Bhadreshwar village in Mundra Taluk of Kutch district. 'Setu' is a programme of Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan.

Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan had evolved from the civil society initiatives for providing relief to the people affected by the 1998 cyclone. When Gujarat had another cyclone in 1999, Abhiyan proved a highly useful platform for NGOs as well as the people during the relief stage. When the earthquake hit Kutch in 2001, Abhiyan emerged as a crucial agency playing a pivotal role in providing relief to the affected families, and also in coordinating the efforts of governmental and civil society agencies.

'Setu', literally meaning 'bridge', has been the flagship programme of Abhiyan after the 2001 earth quake. 'Setu' acts as a bridge between the communities and the outside world. Abhiyan set up a network of Setus in the district, each one of them catering to a cluster of villages. Each Setu also has a thematic focus as well. The Setu at Bhadreshwar has its focus on the fishing communities and coastal issues.

Over the last few years, the Kutch coast has been witnessing massive industrialisation centred around Mundra Port. A large stretch of the Mundra coast is being developed through the setting up of the 7400 crore multi product Special Economic Zones (SEZ) by the Adani Group. The coast has already seen the destruction of large tracts of mangroves and filling up of vast areas of land for infrastructure development. The way this whole process has been progressing led to the fear that the fishing communities may lose their livelihoods, and the entire coastal ecosystem could be in peril in no time.

As a result of the Bhadreshwar Setu's work, the Wagher fishing community got organised to address the imminent threat to their livelihoods. Setu helped the community organise 'Bandar Panchayats', an institutional structure formed around the bandars where the Wagher families move in from different villages and stay for the entire fishing season. Bandar Panchayats were innovative as in they provided a much needed common platform for them to address the issues that they faced at the bandar level.

MASS: The Early Days
Machhimar Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti (MASS, later renamed as Machhimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan) was initiated in early 2007. The Samiti was formed as a forum for organising the fishing communities for struggles to protect their rights to their livelihood in the wake of the fast development around the Mundra Port. It was thirteen fishermen leaders, representing the various villages and bandars on the Mundra coast, who came together to form MASS.

The first major issue that MASS addressed was the need to uphold the rights of the pagadiya fishermen, who go fishing on foot in the intertidal zone, for access to the seashore. The Adani Group had laid an air strip along the coast within the premises of the proposed SEZ. The air strip blocked the traditional pathway used by the pagadiya fishermen of Sekhadiya village. MASS organised an agitation against this. Starting on 10th February 2007, a long struggle evolved, with fisher people continuing a sit in strike for 35 days. Finally, Adani Group had to make amendments to their plans, ensuring the protection of the pathway for the Sekhadiya fishermen. MASS was on its way.

MASS plunged into the national level issues and campaigns by joining and playing an active role in the all India agitation initiated by NFF in May 2008. Led by the late leader Harekrishna Debnath, the struggle was organised in the form of a rally that covered the entire coast starting from Kutch and ending with West Bengal, citing the pertinent issues affecting the fishing communities and demanding the protection of the coasts, culminating with a rally in Delhi on 11th November 2008. MASS was on its way to developing a national perspective of coastal issues.

In 2008, MASS took up large scale awareness campaigns against the massive destruction of mangroves along the Kutch coast by the Adani Group. It held various agitations raising the issue of the rights of the fishing communities to livelihoods. It organised a district level campaign April 2009. The high point of the campaign was a rally in Mundra town on 17th April, which was addressed by several leaders including Fr. Thomas Kochery. In 2009 August, MASS actively involved with the collective action against the proposed power plant to be set up close to Randh bandar, the largest bandar of traditional fisher folks on the Mundra coast.

Since 2008, MASS has been part of the state level and nation wide campaigns and agitations organised or supported by NFF. These included campaign against displacement of fishing communities as part of setting up SEZs, campaigns related to CRZ/CMZ, coastal protection, struggles against destruction of mangroves, campaigns relating to the newly introduced Fisheries Bill, and for protecting the rights of the fishing communities in the wake of massive industrialisation along the coast line.

The case of Mochanam, the missing fishing boat

On 31 May 2010, a deep sea fishing boat, Mochanam, with seven crew members set out to sea from Kolachel harbour in Kanyakumari. The monsoon had just set in, the sea was moderate to rough and the men were bound for the Wedge Bank, a favoured fishing ground this time of the year, for a full week of fishing. A week later when the men didn't return, anxious next of kin and friends began searching for the missing boat and by 08 June, the coastguard and all officials were alerted. All search parties returned without finding the men or the boat. A few days later a piece of the bow of the boat was found floating in the sea by a fishing boat and was towed back to the harbour. The name of the boat was visible on the piece of the recovered debris.

When a boat disappears at sea, we can only guess the possible causes of mishap as no one has actually lived to tell the tale. In this case, the recovery of a piece of the boat has given us some clue of the nature of the mishap. It points somewhat clearly to a mid-sea collision (at night) with a large ship.

In the daytime, men are working on deck and so an approaching ship would be spotted by any of the seven crew members but at night, the situation is different. In most of our fishing boats, all crew members go to sleep at night while anchored and if you ask them why, they say they worked very hard all day so they deserve rest. The argument is watertight but it’s a dangerous thing to do while at sea.

During periods of darkness, a light must always burn on the boat and one man has to stay vigilant for other ships or boats that may approach on collision course and to ensure the light is burning alright, all night long. The movement of the boat or even some rain or spray may get into the light and put it off. Night watches can be shared among the men ensuring all of them get sufficient rest.

On a clear day or night, standing on the deck of Mochanam, one could possibly see a ship or its light from as far as 8 to 10 nautical miles. This is roughly Mochanam's visible horizon. If someone on board Mochanam was vigilant and keeping a look-out, he would have spotted the ship on a collision course 8 to 10 miles away and would have enough time to take corrective action -- either move away or attract the attention of the approaching ship.

Most merchant ships post extra look-outs (besides the navigator) while in coastal waters, particularly at night, so there was someone on board the ship keeping a look-out while the crew of Mochanam was fast asleep after a hard day's work probably anchored in the middle of a shipping route. Since speeds of approach are slow, there are no sudden surprises at sea. Everything moves at a slow pace so there is enough time to take action if we are vigilant.

Depletion of our inshore resources has pushed fishermen into shipping lanes leading to navigation conflicts with merchant ships. Small boat fishermen do not have to fear collisions with ships as they get washed away by the wake of the ship but bigger boats like Mochanam offer more resistance and get beaten down.

A review of accidents in the small scale fishery showed Kanyakumari topping the list with the largest incidents of collision, followed by Tuticorin, Nagapattinam, and Cuddalore. These are collisions with large boats and/or boats of the same size. A review of accidents among larger boats may throw up interesting findings on collisions especially with merchant ships.

Mani (53), Essak (52), Cleetus (48), Biju (36), Shaji (29), Binu (26) and Satheesh (18) are the Kanyakumari fishermen who went down with Mochanam. Collisions are just one among twelve types of commonly reported accidents in the Tamil Nadu fishery and fifth in terms of human casualties. Mochanam is an example of one of the risks and dangers fishermen face daily -- an example that took seven lives.