CICEF nod for fishing harbour

Rajahmundry: The decades old desire and  demand of fisher folk of U-Kothapalli mandal of East Godavari will soon be a reality soon with the technical clearance for a fishing harbour at Uppada by a team of experts from the Central Institute of Coastal Engineering for Fisheries (CICEF), Bangalore.

The harbour will provide jetty facility to more than 2,000 fishing boats, particularly traditional ones. In addition, the fisherfolk will  be able to avail of marketing and transport facility for their catch.

The facility  is set to come up on a 30 acre site, which will enable the fishing community to get a better price at the harbour itself instead of searching for buyers at far off places by
arranging their own transport.

The fishermen of Uppada-Kothapalli, who venture into sea in more than 2,000 mechanised, motor and traditional boats, have been depending on the fishing harbour at Vakalapudi in Kakinada rural for years now.

With the passing years the locals began to raise  objections against the ‘outsiders’ forcing most  fisherfolk of U-Kothapalli to make alternative arrangement for the safety of  their boats and for marketing their catch.

The issue was brought to the notice of the local MP and Union minister M.M. Pallam Raju more than four years ago. With the identification of the 30 acre government site between Uppada and Aminabada along the Kakinada-Konapapapeta sea coast area, the project will be expedited. 

CICEF deputy directors N. Krishna Murty and Murali Krishna, along with East Godavari DD fisherman D. Govindayya visited the proposed site on Wednesday.

Govindayya  on Thursday said that the Benguluru team gave  technical clearance and  are hoping for budgetary allocations soon to take the project forward.

Fisherfolk leader and former sarpanch of Uppada Vummidi John said that the Uppada fishing harbour will be immensely beneficial to the local fishing community not only to anchor their boats but also provide facility to store their nets in the boats saving them the current habit of  carrying their nets with them for safe custody.

The new harbour will be helpful in marketing and transporting their catch for better price at the harbour itself, he disclosed.