Basudevpur: The outfall of river Gamei has been clogged with alluvial deposits and heavy siltation, thereby affecting the smooth movement of boats and trawlers at Chudamani and Kasia jetties in Bhadrak district, a report said.
Consequently, this has been impacting the livelihood of over 20,000 fishermen of 36 panchayats in this coastal block.
Basudevpur has emerged as an important fishing hub in north Orissa with Chudamani and Kasia as major fishing jetties.
However, the jetties have been plagued by a host of problems. Fishermen expressed their discontent over the fact that the marine fisheries department and the state government have given short shrift to the development of the jetties and the river outfall areas.
About two-km outfall of Gamei from Chudamani ghat to the jetty has been clogged with soil deposits. “As the outfall area has not been dredged over the years, movement of fishing vessels has been hampered,” some fishermen lamented.
Unless and until sea waves lash the river mouth, it was not possible to move boats, they said.
According to the report, 64 trawlers, 24 gillnetters and 53 mechanised boats operate in the Chudamani jetty. The economy of about a dozen panchayats depends on this jetty. As the river course till the jetty has not been excavated, the fishermen and their families face a lot of problems in operating their boats.
The other important fishing jetty Kasia too is in a miserable state. About 87 mechanised boats and nine gillnetters operate in the jetty where even basic facilities are absent.
As the river outfall area is narrow and its course is crooked, the movement of launches and boats is hampered. The outfall area stretching 1 km from the sea has been silted, it was learnt.
Assistant marine fisheries officer Amar Kumar Sahu said, “If the two jetties are dredged upto the outfall areas, fishermen and boat owners can draw benefits.”
Sashikant Nayak, president of Chudamani Boat Owners’ Association, said it is very unfortunate that no step has been taken to dredge the river outfall, despite the association having repeatedly taking up the matter with the authorities concerned. PNN
