CHENNAI: Blame it on the Christmas tragedy, as most fisherfolk milling around the shores of Pazhaverkadu do, when you ask them where the tourists are this summer. Last Christmas was a day that most people in this area have been trying to forget, as it was the single-most defining event of last year, which continues to ruin lives this year. “Twenty-two people may have died in that boating accident, but 20,000 people are suffering for it still,” laments Sundaresan, a fisherman from Kottai kuppam. For the past six years, fisherfolk around Pulicat lake have always looked forward to the ultra-hot months of April and May - for this is the season that brings in the tourist influx. Through the rest of the year they sell their fishing catch, haggle over prices, and lose sleep over making ends meet. Come summer, and it’s time to ‘make hay’. No longer.“After just taking families out for a ‘boat ride’ on the lake, we realised that tourists expect a lot more,” explains Suman, a part-time boat ride organiser. “That’s when we decided to do more and started offering people camping gear, bonfires, music, fresh seafood and the like for all-night camps. We also realised that people liked to learn how to steer and so we would let tourists try their hand at it. The response was great. The youngsters and IT employees loved it,” remembers Suman. “Till ‘it’ happened.” His face turns grim. The returns had been great. Where they would earn between `400-600 for a boating trip for a couple of hours, they began earning anywhere between `3,000-8,000 or more depending on the size of the party. “All that is gone now, so we are forced to turn to fishing alone,” he adds. As a result of the widespread panic caused by the ‘Pulicat tragedy’, even college boys on bikes stopped coming to the hamlet this year, he says. A real shocker, considering there used to be at least 50-60 cars with tourists on any given day in summer, last year. Even women who used to clean and cook seafood for the tourists have lost out on their income.Four months on, the government has offered to ease up on its position on the tourist boating ban, provided one of the elected panchayat representatives is willing to take responsibility and act as the executing body. District officials in Tiruvallur confirmed that three meetings had been held with the leaders of all four panchayats in Pulicat - Pazhaverkadu, Kottaikuppam, Thangal Perumbalam and Light House Kuppam - to discuss this issue. “Unfortunately, all the meetings ended with the villagers fighting with each other over who should get the authority,” said the official.Since a consensus couldn’t be reached, the stark blue board that says ‘NO BOATING ON LAKE’ still stares at fisherfolk on the shores of the second largest brackish water lake in Asia. “And then there’s him as well (pointing at the policeman),” says Anand, another young fisherman whose mainstay for the past four years had been tourist outings. A policeman has been posted under the bridge round-the-clock to ensure adventurous tourists don’t get out on to the lake. “The major reason people wanted to go out to the islands was to have a drink. Can anybody carry bottles on to a boat with him around?” he asks, the sarcasm in his voice apparent. The only way to get on a boat is if you smell of fish or if you’re wearing a lungi, he says with a laugh.“Every village wants to take charge because then they can have a monopoly. They also see it as a matter of pride to be above the other panchayats. If they don’t work out a solution, close to 2,000 boats will lose the summer bonanza,” says another villager, who wishes to remain anonymous. With fuel prices escalating, the unpredictability of the fishing industry, and being unable to afford the safety equipment that the government is insisting on, the fisherfolk are very worried. The question uppermost on their minds is: When will the tourists return?
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