Thiruvananthapuram:
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday emphasised the importance of strengthening coastal security and protecting fishermen in view of incidents like the recent shooting down of two Indian fishermen allegedly by marines of Italian ship Enrica Lexie off the state's coast.
"Kerala has six hundred kilometres' long coastline. In the light of the recent attacks on fishermen along our coast, it is imperative that we not only enhance vigil on our coastal borders but also strengthen the protection to our fishermen communities," Mr Chandy said at the Chief Ministers' conference on internal security convened by the Centre in New Delhi.
He said that the Coast Guard and Navy must be sensitized to take upon the role of protecting our fishing communities both within and outside Indian territorial waters or Exclusive Economic Zone.
Communication gadgets must be provided to fishermen to make fishing a secure economic activity. The Centre should consider extension of the territorial limit of licenses to telecom operators so that mobile connectivity could be provided across the seas at least up to 30 km, he said.
Mr Chandy said efforts have also to be made to prevail on the international maritime community to declare the Ocean along the coastline of India free from piracy, which would prevent unfortunate incidents like the ones that happened recently.
Observing that achieving inclusive economic growth was important in tackling extremism, he said extremism would grow rapidly if a large number of persons started believing that they could not get what they wanted without resorting to violence.
Referring to the Mullaperiyar issue, Mr Chandy said the Kerala Government was committed to solving the problem peacefully and effectively by ensuring same quantity of water to the people of Tamil Nadu without endangering the safety of the people of Kerala.