Bahanaga: The fishing harbour at Uparaadia under this block in Balasore district, that earlier used to be a source of livelihood for thousands of fishermen, has been lying defunct for the last several years as the Panchubisa river’s outfall spreading for about 3 km into the sea has been bunged up with silt.
Hundreds of fishing vessels have been lying idle at the harbour even as a proposal for renovation of the harbour has been stuck in bureaucratic red tape.
The dredging of the harbour can be carried out only after obtaining permission from the Central government, it was learnt.
Panchubisa is a distributary of Kansabansa. During the British rule, the East Coast Canal was dug out and connected with Panchubisa, but the mouth of the canal was bunged up with siltation over the years, blocking drainage of water from the river.
Taking note of the problem, the irrigation department had built a sluice gate at Baramania 15 years ago with an aim of utilising Kansabansa water for irrigation in summer season. But the project did not work for a long time as the sluice gate got damaged and eventually became defunct.
On the other hand, the fishing harbour has virtually become moribund with deposits of silt while the river has also been changing its course.
Local fishermen had been demanding to remove the sluice gate, but nothing is being done in this direction. Earlier, they had broken a portion of the sluice gate to facilitate flow of water. According to the fishermen, plenty of river and sea water on the outfall of Panchubisa was facilitating entry of boats and fishing vessels.
However, the siltation, they proposed local MLA Parsuram Dhada for dredging of the river mouth.
Besides, agriculture, fishery and animal husbandry minister Pradip Maharathy, who was in the area January 28, 2015, to inaugurate a fish distribution centre, had assured the fishermen of taking steps for dredging the river mouth.
Fishermen lament that 10 months have passed since the assurance, but no step has been taken in this regard.
“We have been repeatedly demanding renovation of the river outfall, but none pays heed to us,” said fisherman Sadhu Mallick.
President of Panchubisa Fishermen’s Association, Kashinath Majhi, alleged the promise of the minister has turned hollow.
“As the fishing harbour is lying defunct, fishermen have to face a lot of difficulties in making entry into the sea while over 100 registered vessels are lying idle,” lamented Kailash Chandra Das, secretary of the association.
However, MLA Dhada said there is plan on how to excavate the outfall. The coast canal is under the jurisdiction of the Central government which has to sanction funds for dredging, he added. PNN