MARGAO
The hostile navigation condition at the mouth of River Sal has come to haunt fishermen again.
A little over a month after a fishing vessel ran aground at the River Sal mouth after hitting the sand bar, another fishing vessel was stranded at the river mouth early Thursday morning.
Sources informed that the fishing vessel was returning back to the Cutbona fishing jetty after fishing when the vessel hit the sand bar and ran aground. Since the vessel was stranded adjoining the Mobor beach, the crew members disembarked from the vessel and walked to the shore.
The incident has only brought to the fore the risks and hazards faced by the fishing vessels operating from the Cutbona fishing jetty due to the hostile navigation issues plaguing the river mouth.
While fishermen and the boat owners have been demanding a training wall at the River Sal mouth to rid the river mouth of the perennial problem, the project has hit a block due to the delay in carrying out an Environment Clearance by the Fisheries Department.
Around seven years ago, the Fisheries department had taken up the work of construction of a training wall at the River Sal mouth. The work, however, was abandoned after the project was challenged before the National Green Tribunal. While the Tribunal finally gave the nod for the project on condition the Fisheries Department first conduct the EC for the project, the delay in obtaining the EC has delayed the long-pending project at the River Sal mouth.
