A new harbour proposed for Tanura

MALAPPURAM: The UDF Government’s first budget has brought great relief to the fishermen communities in the district as a fishing harbour at Tanur, which has been a pressing need of the community at least for the last three decades, have made the cut into the budget. Tanur coast has nine villages, which are mainly inhabited by fisherman. The area is believed to have the most number of in-board boats in the district. Due to the absence of a harbour, fishermen here go to Beypore or Ponnani, which costs them heavily as they have to hire vehicles to reach these distant ports on time. “Incidents are not rare when these vehicles cause accidents in their rush to reach the harbour on time,” said a fisherman. According to them, Tanur is the best location for a port in the area between Koottayi to Ponnani. “Tanur was a centre buzzing with activity when it had a very active port approximately 50 years ago. But it gradually died down mainly due to irresponsible management,” said Premanathan, a local journalist. The proximity to  railway station also makes it an apt place for a harbour. “When the port here was very active, the fishermen used to send the processed fish on the Chennai Mail (then Madras Mail) which used to stop here for the purpose,” he recalled. “The train still stops at Tanur, but no more fish exports,” he added. The budget has also promised to set up a model fishing village at Tanur with small-scale industries to process sea food. Chappappadi, where the proposed model fishing village may come up, was earlier a hub to process fish to extract fish oil and other products, recall the elders. Apart from  the fishing harbour at Tanur, the budget has also mentioned the development of the Ponnani harbour.