An NGO will launch a community radio for the fisher folk in Rameswaram. The NGO, Nesakarangal Trust, plans to launch the community radio -- Kadalosai 90.4 FM -- on April 14. It would be a typical FM radio packed with lifesaving information and entertainment, said Armstrong Fernando, president of Nesakarangal Trust. The NGO, which works among fishermen, has obtained licence from the central government to launch the community radio. The radio station will be manned by local youth from fishermen community with a couple of volunteers being trained by experts. The content of the programme will include both entertainment as well as vital information for fishing community -- weather, fish movement, state and central government schemes to fishermen community, job opportunities and entrepreneurship guidance.
The community radio will also broadcast programmes on marine ecology of the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait sensitising farmers about the endangered marine species, conservation effects. "It will be a proper FM channel with more information on fisheries. There will be weather forecast every one hour and live-programme of families interacting with fishermen at sea," Armstrong said. The NGO will seek the expertise from meteorological department and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Sciences (INCOIS) in ocean forecasting. In the past, fishermen used to carry radio sets when they go for fishing. Now, they use their mobile phones for entertainment. Weather announcement is going to be most vital for them. "After we go for fishing, weather forecast might change suddenly and there will be no way of getting the information. Radio is useful tool in such case. Moreover, when a fishing boat strands mid-sea and fails to return shore, SOS could be sent via radio station to other boats in the vicinity," said secretary of Erwadi Mechanised Boat Fishermen Association A Gunasekaran.
Source and Credit :- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/NGO-to-launch-community-radio-for- Rameswaram-fishermen/articleshow/51600512.cms
Forwarded by :- Shri. Alokesh Gupta , alokeshgupta@gmail.com