Thousands of fisher men in East Godavari district today went on a boat rally in 500 boats to lay siege to GSPC rig in sea waters at Bhairava Palem near Kakinada coast protesting against the restrictions imposed on fishing in the area.

The fishermen, gathered on the shores since early morning under the leadership of Mummidivaram MLA Mr Satish and Yanam MLA Mr M. Krishna Rao, first moved towards the ONGC rig and after laying a siege to it, left for the GNPC rig.

District administration deployed hundreds of police men as a precautionary measure to avoid any damage to the rigs. Coast guard personnel have also tried to chase the fishermen away from the rigs but to no avail.

Fishermen from nearly 62 villages in Mummidivaram Mandalam participated in the programme putting the administrating on tenterhooks and resulting in tension.