With the fishing ban twenty-three days away, a familiar worry of the past has resurfaced at the Cutbona jetty, Goa’s largest fishing hub. Questions around cleanliness and upkeep are back in focus, bringing cholera and diarrhoeal outbreaks linked to the port back into sharp focus. For all the assurances and investments made since then, the ground reality appears far less reassuring.
A brief recap: Cutbona jetty was engulfed in a health crisis in September 2024, with cholera and diarrhoea claiming the lives of at least six migrant workers, besides affecting around 172 others due to poor sanitation triggered by overflowing waste, open defecation and lack of clean drinking water. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant drafted in the then Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira, and a team undertook a major clean-up of the jetty. While scrap and garbage were discarded, unused vessels parked at the site were told to be moved. A major initiative was setting up a 50-toilet block in association with Sulabh International.
The status now: A joint inspection by authorities on Tuesday and another one on Wednesday have exposed glaring gaps, with even the minimum safeguards missing. The taps in the toilets is running dry with inconsistent supply, fishing nets scattered around, dinghies, equipment and ageing vessels returning and overgrown vegetation bringing back memories of the past, even as questions have surfaced again about who maintains the jetty.
The problem is not entirely about infrastructure, but about neglect. It’s a basic failure to oversee. Cutbona is a busy fishing hub where around 5,000 migrant workers are engaged. The volume of business is also high, and hence the consequences are predictable. If there is no supervision from time to time, and follow-up action, disorder is bound to return. Notices from the Fisheries Department appear to have had little effect. Fresh dumping continues, pointing to weak enforcement. Unauthorised welding work undertaken inside the jetty shed suggests a lack of monitoring that could pose safety risks. And that explains the story.
These are not minor lapses, especially against the backdrop of what Cutbona has witnessed in the past. All the progress that has happened since 2024 seems to be fading away, and there is no way authorities can ignore it. The hope is that while the State heads towards the ban period, it will give enough time for authorities to take stock of the situation and bring in some order.
The larger issue is systemic. Maintenance at the jetty appears sporadic at best. There is little evidence of routine cleaning or proper handling of essentials like ice used in fish storage. The Fisheries Department, which was passing the buck when the situation spiralled out of control in 2024, needs to either take full responsibility for upkeep or hand it over to stakeholders better equipped to manage the facility.
The issue cannot be treated lightly because it impacts public lives and the local environment. The department must crack the whip with regular inspections, firm penalties for violations, and clear lines of accountability. Nobody wants to revisit the horror of 2024. In the less than three months available before the season opens again, authorities need to ensure that hygiene returns, all the boxes are tick-marked and Cutbona resumes as a safe and sustainable fishing hub. No excuses.
