Balugaon: Chandraputta is a village, inhabited by fishermen on the banks of the Chilika Lake near Balugaon in Khurda district. Around 5,000 fishermen of the village are in fishing, but they are facing the threat of loss of livelihood.
Lack of sufficient fish, restrictions imposed by authorities and the fish mafia is taking a toll on fishermen households completely dependent on their traditional occupation.
“Earlier around 8,000 fishermen from the village used to be in the business. It has now come down to 5,000. Many have migrated to states like Kerala,” Saswati Jali, a resident of Chandraputta village said.
Other villagers told this newspaper that fishing prospects have dwindled in the last few years and migration is now evident in most fishermen villages around the Chilika Lake. Many have migrated to other coastal states while others have gone to urban areas to work as labourers and plumbers.
Villagers of Barkul said catches in sairat areas have gone down. “Earlier there used to be large quantities of fish in sairat areas. But now despite fishermen shelling out Rs 15,000 as lease to the government they are not getting adequate fish/shrimp. The numbers of fishermen families are now coming down,” Sanjay Jali, a resident of Barkul village said.
Sairat is the recognized area of the lake juxtaposed to villages which are given by government on lease for fishermen for fishing while gheri, which involves installing nets on the lake is prohibited. Gheri provides more fish but the fishing mafia is spreading its tentacles through illegal gheris. Many said the mafias are also trying to take a share from sairat areas either by giving them money or by forcing to sell it to them.
“The fish mafia is dangerous. If we venture into the lake with our boats near their areas they attack us. They fire bullets at us and many of our fishermen have been injured,” said Mahanta Das from Chandraputta.
Many fishermen from these villages said that their prospects are harmed by middlemen who are taking a cut of around Rs 80 per kg from their catches. Officials at the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) accepted that illegal fish traders are operating in the lake, but said the authority is taking steps to combat them and that special drives are launched on a regular basis.
