Karwar : Members of the fishing community, in large numbers, entered into the Arabian Sea here on Monday to register their protest against the Centre’s expansion plans of Karwar port under Sagarmala project.

Agitators barged into the worksite, breaching the barricades in the morning. The police acted swiftly and detained over 70 agitating fishermen.

Hours later, the police prevented a second wave of protesters from disrupting the work. Hundreds of agitators, mostly fisherwomen, expressed their anguish by entering into the sea. They raised slogan against the Centre and the project.

Soon, an undeclared bandh was observed in Karwar town. Following a bandh call given by the leaders of the fishing community and several pro-people organisations, traders and hoteliers downed shutters.

The agitators tried in vain to block traffic on the national highway. Despite protests, works on the project continued under police protection.

The agitators argued that the expansion of commercial port would affect the movement of fishing boats and trawlers from and to Baithkol fishing harbour due to its proximity with Karwar commercial port. Further, they complained that the Sagarmala project works would spoil the beauty of the famed Rabindranath Tagore beach.

Suresh Tandel, K T Tandel, Jayan Jambavalkar, Preetam Masoorkar among others led the protest.