Malkangiri: Lack of safety gears, fishing equipment and marketing facilities for their produce have posed serious threat to the survival of fishermen in Swabhiman area in this district, a report said.
The report said the Balimela reservoir was constructed on the Sileru river, a tributary of Godavari in Chitrakonda to provide irrigation facilities to farmlands and power supply to households in the district.
Thousands of people were displaced to make space for the reservoir and 151 villages in Kudumulugumma block were cut off from the mainland following the construction of the reservoir.
These villages were named as the cut-off region and later, renamed as Swabhiman Anchal in the district. The state government released varieties of fish seeds into the reservoir so that people in the area could catch fish from the reservoir and eke out their living.
The state government’s initiative paid off as people got a scope of earning from fishing in the reservoir.
However, due to lack of safety gears like life jackets and quality fishing boats, many fishermen of Panaspadar and Orapadar villages under Swabhiman Anchal endangered their lives by fishing in small dingy boats.
Over the years, several fishermen were drowned while catching fish in the reservoir in small fishing boats.
Earlier, some fishermen were provided with life jackets which is just like a drop in the ocean as compared to scores of fishermen living in the area.
Fishermen like Madhu Sisa, Raghu Golari and Hari Sisa said there are hundreds of fishermen in the area who risk their lives to catch fish from the reservoir in the absence of life jackets and quality boats.
Moreover, they are catching fish in traditional nets and do not have improvised nets. As a result, they do not get enough fish to manage their livelihood, they observed.
This apart, absence of marketing facilities to sell fish has hit them hard. They don’t get the right price for their fish catch and often resort to distress sale.
When contacted, Rajendra Patra, district fisheries officer, said that this year the fishermen will be provided with some good quality boats and life jackets as well as other facilities.
Moreover, fish seeds will also be released into the reservoir to increase the fish population, he added.
PNN
