Basudevpur: Three fishing jetties under Basudevpur block in Bhadrak district along the coast of Bay of Bengal have been dilapidated. Despite repeated demands by local fishermen, the fishery department has done little. The situation has pushed over 20,000 fishermen to the brink.
Fifteen panchayats of Basudevpur block including two wards under this municipality in Bhadrak district are located along the coastline. Over 20,000 fishermen belonging to Basudevpur block and municipal area eke out their living from deep-sea fishing alone, a report said.
According to sources, the district has recorded a drastic fall in sea-fish production due to climatic changes. However, a combination of factors such as apathetic attitude of officials, dilapidated infrastructure and inadequate support have affected the fish production, local fishermen alleged.
There are three fishing jetties in this region – Chudamani, Kashia and Padhuan for deep-sea fishing, sales and exports. The marine fishing department had set a target of 6,250 metric tonnes for FY 2019-20. As against the target, only 5,892.46 metric tonnes were produced during the same period. There was a production of 1,919.71 metric tonnes at Chudamani jetty, 2,188.32 metric tonnes at Kashia jetty and 7.05 metric tonnes at Padhuan jetty, the department said.
Moreover, 5,590 metric tonnes of fish, 305 metric tonnes of prawn and 1.5 metric tonnes of crab were produced from three jetties during FY 2019-20. Likewise, a target was set for production of 5,500 metric tonnes for FY 2018-19, against 5,490 metric tonnes achieved.
The three jetties have failed to cater the demand of locals as well as outside markets. Chudamani jetty has completely run down without any maintenance and other two jetties have dilapidated with cracks on walls and its concrete roof partially collapsed, fishermen alleged.
Even as Chudamani jetty has 64 trawlers, 24 fish-guillotines and 96 motorised boats, Kashia jetty has nine fish-guillotines and 75 motorised boats and Padhuan has only six motorised boats, registered under the state marine fishing department, official Amar Kumar Sahu said.
The state government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Chudamani Port in Basudevpur. The Gamei river has been buried in sand from Chudamani Ghat to the jetty creating problems for smooth sailing of boats, local fishermen said.
On the other hand, storage rooms in the jetty have been damaged. The Kashia jetty at the sea mouth has got buried in sand. Mouth of the Gamei river needs to be deepened and sand deposits be removed to facilitate unhindered sailing of boats. Fishermen have demanded before the district administration for immediate repair of these jetties including the fish sales centre, which is also in dilapidated condition.