Bhubaneswar: In a bid to check illegal fishing of prawn at Chilika lake, the state government has demolished illegal prawn gheries put over 151 square km so far.
The demolition was carried under supervision of officials of Chilika Development Authority (CDA) with help of the district administration of Puri, Khurda and Ganjam.
This was revealed at an inter-departmental coordination committee meeting held here under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, Friday.
As per the DGPS survey conducted in 2017, the illegal prawn gheries were put up over 182 sq km area in the lagoon, of which 151.47 sq km area was made free from the possession of mafia, said CDA Chief Executive Sushanta Nanda.
Out of the freed 151.47 sq km, 13.21 sq km are comes under Khurda district, 14.60 sq km under Ganjam and 123.66 sq km under Puri district, he said.
Sources said the illegal gheries were adversely affecting spawning habitat of fishes and shrimps.
Fish production from the lake has increased by 20 per cent , worth about `100 crore, in past six months following action against illegal prawn gheries. The meeting decided to identify sairat resources of government in the lake by conducting DGPS survey.
PNN
