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HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - Police in Andhra Pradesh opened fire on fishermen protesting against moves to privatise a harbour, killing a woman and injuring 17 others, officials said on Monday. Earlier V.S.R. Kaumudi, police commissioner of the nearby city of Visakhapatnam, had told Reuters that two people had been killed in the incident at Gangavaram, 650 km northeast of the state capital, Hyderabad. The dead woman was identified by a state government spokesman as Nagaratnamma, aged 27. She had recently given birth. A 32-year-old fisherman, Nookaraju, earlier believed to have died, was in a critical condition in a local hospital, the spokesman said. Two of the injured were children. Officers opened fire after government officials were attacked by villagers throwing stones as they attempted to evict the fishermen from their homes, police said. More than 20 police officers and several officials were also injured. Nearly 3,600 fishing families living in hamlets around the harbour have been demonstrating against the removal of their boats and resisting attempts to bulldoze their homes for the past three days. Local TV stations showed large groups of protesters hurling bricks at police officers who protected themselves with riot shields and fired tear gas. The fighting spilled over into markets and nearby alleys. The state's chief minister said families of the dead and injured would be compensated after uproar in the state assembly. The harbour, and several others nearby, have been handed to a Indian private development consortium on a 33-year lease. The group plans to construct a facility capable of importing coal and iron ore to feed local industry. At the other harbours, fishermen have accepted compensation of 50,000 rupees for the loss of their homes and up to six months of food supplies for loss of income. But in Gangavaram officials said they were unable to offer a similar package as the area is covered by an election code in the run up to a local by-election that bars such payments. On Saturday district officials had been forced to retreat after locals beat them with fishing rods and sticks. The officials returned accompanied by more than 500 police after imposing a ban on public gatherings. The villagers were staging a sit in as they arrived, blocking the entrance to the harbour. Tension between developers and local people occasionally erupts in densely-populated India, and in January 12 tribal people were killed in the eastern state of Orissa as officials moved to acquire land for a steel plant.
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