Fisherfolk petition Collector against proposed recreation club near Vivekananda Memorial

More than 100 fisherfolk opposing the opening of a recreation club at Tharavai Thoppu village on the way to Vivekananda Memorial House in Pamban submitted a petition to the Ramanathapuram District Collector during the grievance redress meeting here on Monday.

The petition read that as Rameswaram serves as a spiritual and tourist destination thousands of people visit there daily.

It houses many spiritual sites, including the ancient Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple and the Vivekananda Memorial Swami Vivekananda was received after being sent to America, they added.

But in a manner that desecrates the sanctity of the Rameswaram region and affects the livelihoods of fishermen engaged in daily sea labour such as fishing, the government has granted permission for a private liquor bar under the guise of a recreation club in the Tharavai Thoppu area near Pamban, the petitioners alleged.

They noted that it has come as a shock that arrangements were underway to set up this recreation club on the road leading from Pamban to the Vivekananda Memorial.

They stated that the district administration must impose a ban on opening this liquor bar operating in the name of a recreation club.