A new fishing season is set to start two days from now, but a whole lot of old issues have all come back to haunt the stakeholders, including the boat owners operating at the Cutbona fishing jetty.
Boat owners do not mince words when they point accusing fingers at the Fisheries Department over the failure to spruce up the infrastructure and put the logistics in place.
A host of old issues, including sanitation, jetty road dotting with craters, delay in utilising the expanded portion of the jetty, improper illumination et al, have come to the fore as the boat owners start a new fishing season. And, not to mention the hostile navigation issues at the mouth of river Sal at Betul, which hamper the smooth movement of the fishing vessels, especially during the monsoons, for want of a breakwater facility. A report.
Sanitation
The Cutbona fishing jetty is the home for thousands of migrant workers employed as crew members on board the vessels. Sadly, the Fisheries department has failed to fix the sanitation issue plaguing the jetty over the years. Leave alone the 50-seater toilet block proposed at the fishing jetty around a decade ago, even the bio-toilets installed at the fisheries complex over the last few months are not put to use to date. Resultantly, the lone toilet block manned and operated by Sulabh International is the only sanitation facility in place when the jetty plays host to around 3,000-5,000 workers during the peak fishing season.
New jetty
Expansion of the Cutbona fishing jetty has been the long-standing demand of boat owners over the years. The demand was finally fulfilled when the jetty was expanded by around 222 metres. Sadly, while the jetty was extended by around 222 metres, boat owners say the extended portion of the jetty is not utilised to date for reasons known to the Fisheries Department.
While space constraint has been plaguing the Cutbona jetty with the jetty emerging as a major fishing hub, the Fisheries Department has shown no urgency in putting the extended portion to productive use as a result of which the expanded jetty now plays host to abandoned vessels and fishing nets.
Road & illumination
Boat owners have been crying for improved road connectivity and illumination over the last two seasons but in vain. The entire jetty road stretch, starting from the main road, has been craving for attention with the stretch, especially the jetty road, doting with craters. The absence of proper jetty illumination has affected the operations at the jetty.
River Sal mouth
A training wall or breakwater facility has been the long-standing demand of boat owners operating from the Cutbona jetty over the years. Reason? The hostile conditions at the river Sal mouth come in the way of smooth navigation of the fishing vessels, especially during the monsoons. Instances are galore when fishing boats while negotiating the hostile conditions at the river Sal mouth had run aground. Sadly, the training wall has not become a reality to date as the Fisheries Department is mandated by the National Green Tribunal to obtain an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report before executing the training wall project.
