Labourers leave for voting; fishing affected

Mangaluru: Most of the labourers at the fisheries port are from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha states. They have all returned back to their respective home town to cast their votes. Thus, several boats have remained anchored back at the port and fishing has almost come to a halt.

Of the 400 deep sea trawlers at the old port, almost 4,000 of the labourers working in them are from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha states. The first phase of the election will take place on April 11^th and hence, most of them have returned back to their hometowns.

The Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in 7 phases from April 11^th to May 19^th The first phase will start on April 11^th in Andhra, Telangana and Odisha, the second phase is on April 18^th in Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Karnataka and on April 23d, the third phase of voting will take place. Odisha state is included in the first three phases of voting. The lack of labourers may exist till April 25^th, inform sources from the Trawl Boat Fishermen Association.