Mangaluru: A delegation of leaders of various fishing organizations in Mangaluru met the Fisheries Minister in the presence of Speaker U.T. Khader and discussed various problems and demands of the fishermen.
They urged him to resolve the problems faced by the fishermen in the old fishing port area of the city.
The delegation met Fisheries Minister Mankala Vaidya in the presence of Speaker U.T. Khader in Bengaluru on Monday and submitted a request.Senior officials of various departments including fisheries and ports were present. After listening to the problems, Fisheries Minister Mankala Vaidya assured that appropriate action would be taken to resolve the problem as soon as the election code of conduct ends.
Although there are more than 1500 fishing boats in the Mangaluru fishing port, the necessary facilities for at least 500 boats are not available. The state government had approved Rs. 49.50 crore in 2023. The remaining work of the 3rd phase of the fishing pier expansion, which was in the tender stage since the last one year, should be started immediately and this port should be made suitable for the use of fishermen within the next one year.
The local port officials are saying that the work of modernizing the Mangalore Fishing Port under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana of the Central Government has been approved for Rs. 37.50 crore a year ago, and they are saying that the approval of the state government and CRZ permission are pending. Action should be taken to start this work soon. While these two works are in progress, it will be very difficult to conduct fishing activities in the current port. As an alternative arrangement until these projects are completed, action should be taken at the government level to get the Port Department to hand over the commercial southern pier of the Port Department, which is adjacent to the fishing port, at least 200 m long. to the Fisheries Department.
Every year, there is a problem of dredging in the inlet of Mangalore Port, and many boats capsize in this area, and fishermen are facing a lot of problems. Although the authorities have been saying for the last five or six years that the dredging of 29 crores will start, this work has not started yet. Therefore, steps should be taken to dredge the silt at the inlet and find a permanent solution to the problem, a study should be conducted to widen the breakwater, a report should be obtained and a grant should be given for this soon.
More than 100 crores of business is done every day in the Mangalore Fishing Port, and the protection of fishermen, safety of women fishermen, theft and other illegal activities are rampant in the port, for this, appropriate CCTV system should be installed throughout the port and continuous deployment of police personnel should be taken in the port.
Since the sale of fish by Rakham and Commission is currently being carried out inside the Mangalore Fishing Port, more than 200 vehicles coming from other states are causing further congestion and hindering the daily operations of the port. Action should be taken to identify a suitable place outside the city next to the highway and shift this market.
Although the number of fishing boats has increased significantly in the district over the last 10 years, no project for jetty expansion has been approved. Therefore, in order to alleviate the congestion problems of the Mangalore Port, which is now concentrated, the delegation has urged the fulfillment of several demands, such as the construction of 200 m long jetties and ancillary facilities at Thota Bengre, Bokkapatna Bengre, and Kotepura, where fishing boats are currently anchored.
The delegation included Trawl Boat Fishermen’s Association President Chetan Bengre, Persin Boat Fishermen’s Association President Anil Kumar Bokkapatna, Trawl Boat Union Vice President Ibrahim Bengre, Secretary Rajesh Putran, National Fishermen’s Organization’s Manohar Bolur, and former Persin Fishermen’s Association president Mohan Bengre.
