Harbours stymied by land problem

BALASORE: The district administration’s dilly-dallying attitude in handing over land to the Fisheries Department has delayed construction of fishing harbours at Balaramgadi and Bahabalpur in Balasore district.   The State Government had decided to build the fishing harbours at the two major fishing bases in the district in 2003. Even as the high power committees of both the Centre and the State governments surveyed the areas and submitted positive reports, the work couldn’t be started due to lack of land. While due to lack of facilities the trawler operators are facing difficulties during loading and unloading of fish, the fishing vessels are forced to anchor in the jetties in neighbouring West Bengal due to lack of proper infrastructure, lighting facilities and adequate depth of water in the bases here. Both Balaramgadi and Bahabalpur are two of the major fishing bases in the State from where lakhs of tonnes of fishes and dry fish are transported to various states like West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Assam. While there are 407 registered trawlers in Balaramgadi, 179 trawlers operate in Bahabalpur.     For Balaramgadi harbour, nearly 55 acres of land is required, the Fisheries Department wants 38 acres for Bahabalpur harbour. Bangalore-based Central Institute of Coastal Engineering for Fishery (CICEF) has also estimated the cost of construction at ` 85 crore for Balaramgadi and ` 62 crore for Bahabalpur.  The district administration, however, is yet to acquire the lands and hand over to the Department concerned construction of the harbours. Though a fishing jetty was built at Balaramgadi in 1982, it is yet to be made functional. “The jetty couldn’t be operated due to lack of required dredging at the base point,” said trawler owners’ association president Narendra Bihari Das.   The district administration claimed that places had been identified and maps prepared for both the harbours. Sadar Tehsildar Pinaki Patnaik said of the required land for Balaramgadi harbour, 29.70 acres are of Nadi Kisam (river class) and the classification will be converted. “We had registered cases against 52 persons for forcibly encroaching upon land for drying fish. The land conversion is delayed as five persons have obtained stay order from the Orissa High Court. The work will progress once the order is withdrawn. Similarly, of the 38 acres of land for Bahabalpur, 16 acres are forest land. We have sought the Government’s clearance for land conversion,” he added. The Fisheries Department officials, however, said the work would start once the land is handed over to them. Assistant Fisheries Director (marine) Shashikanta Acharya said the government had approved both the harbours and land is awaited for the projects.