Chhatrapur: The construction of a proposed fishing jetty at Aryapalli under this block in Ganjam district has been stalled for a long time putting the local fisherfolk in a fix. In the absence of a fishing harbour, the district’s fishermen are migrating to Kerala, Goa, Mumbai and Chennai in search of work. The state government had carried out the conversion of the allotted land, conducted surveys, finalised designs and model studies for the proposed project.
However, due to a lack of environmental clearance and administrative approval from the Centre and state government, the project has been hanging fire for a long. As a result, local fishermen have been facing hurdles and their livelihood is at risk. The fishing jetty mouth near Aryapalli has been buried. This problem has been going on for many years. There are frequent reports of boats breaking down putting the fishermen’s lives at risk.
Earlier, a delegation of state BJP had been to New Delhi and met the Union Minister of Fisheries to draw their attention to the matter and handed over a memorandum. Chhatrapur MLA Subash Chandra Behera also raised questions on this issue in the recently concluded legislative session. In his answer, Ranedra Pratap Swain, Minister of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development department said that action will be taken for the construction of the fishing jetty only after getting environmental clearance and administrative approval from the Centre and the state government.
