Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED)

Since the inception of its intervention in South India, ACTED (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development) has endeavoured to bring relief to tsunami victims who had remained beyond the scope of general emergency operations. Funded by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid department, ACTED's effort on the rehabilitation of marginal inland fisheries in the districts of Thanjavur and Cuddalore is part of this same logic.

Thanjavur
Sethubavachathram Panchayat union is considered the most backward block in the District because of its very poorly developed transport, market facilities, buildings and economic activities. The intervention focuses on backwater fisher people and fish vendors in four hamlets, totalling 756 families. This area is very remote, takes several hours to access it and Dhan is the only NGO working in these villages through ACTED.

The hamlets of T.Maravakadu, Manjavayal, Manganankadu, and Karisalkadu are situated in mangrove forests. These wetlands provide fertile breeding, nursing and feeding grounds for a variety of fish, prawns, crabs and molluscs. Inland fishing is the major source of livelihood for the villagers and is still carried out in the traditional method of hand fishing using catamarans, country boats (thoni) and fish traps locally made out of bamboo and palm tree (pari and saal). As a consequence of the tsunami, channels were largely filled up with marine deposits and debris from the sea, preventing the inflow of sea water and the drainage of canals and affecting the flora and fauna in the area. This has resulted in an important loss of livelihoods for families of these hamlets who have held fishing rights on these 108 Channels for years.

Through its community based approach and along with beneficiaries, ACTED and implementing partner Dhan are contributing to the rehabilitation of such livelihoods. The desilting and clearing of 48 channels through a cash for work programme is ongoing. Secondly, ACTED has provided sets of fishing equipment (pari and saal) to 87 families and 21 remain to be distributed. Thirdly, it has also distributed fish vending equipment (108 aluminium vessels) and 5 tricycles to carry the fish to the market. Throughout its action, ACTED is supporting a marginal community, perpetuating original ancestral fishing techniques and contributing to the equilibrium of a fragile ecosystem.

Desilting of a channel in Thanjavur district

Cuddalore

ACTED chose to concentrate on the inland fishing communities who had lost their boats and nets due to the tsunami as they had been left out by other agencies. Eight treets were identified, namely Pensioner Line, Mohan Singh street, Thiyagavalli, Malumiyarpet, Patchankuppam, Cuddalore New Town Fishing Market, Singarathoppu and Salangukarathiru Street. Two of the eight targeted areas are first line villages, while the rest are second line villages. Inhabitants and Self-Help Groups of these villages had submitted formal requests to ACTED's implementing partner Bless and to the Cuddalore District Collector who forwarded them to Bless. After field monitoring visits and the verification of the requests, the hundred most vulnerable families were chosen for the beneficiary list. One hundred of the families were identified for the distribution of catamarans and inland fishing nets. Each set of fishing net is a combination of a prawn and crab net (nandu and eral). To date, fifty have been distributed and the remaining will be in March. In addition, at the end of February, ACTED is planning on distributing fish vending equipment to 610 beneficiaries, who, until now, they have been using semi-destroyed or damaged equipment which has reduced their productivity and earnings from the catch.

Distributed nets and a catamaran - Cuddalore District

- ACTED, India - February 2006

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