Daijiworld Media Network – Kasargod (MS)

Kasargod, Feb 25: The work of Kasargod-Kasaba fishing port that was announced in 2008 by the then prime minister of the country Manmohan Singh under the Rashtriya Vikas scheme, has got delayed by several years. Only if both union and Kerala government sanction Rs 71 crore, the project will see the light.

In January 2010, Kerala state fisheries minister S Sharma laid the foundation stone for the port. However, due to technical reasons, the work did not begin. Fishermen complain that the distance of anchoring boats is less. So changes in alignment was done by central water power research station, which prepared the blue print. Even then the work did not take off.

Now 200 meters of boat anchoring area is still to be done. Around 530 meters of fish landing area work is also not done. Rs 71 crore is required for this work. Approval is given for sanctioning Rs 50 crore under the PMMMSY scheme of the union government. However, there is no clarity over Rs 21 crore grant from the state government of Kerala.

As the Kasargod fish port work is pending, the fishing boats are anchoring at Talangere Jetty. Fiber glass boats of medium size are unloading the fish at old jetty at Talangere that is not in use now. However, the remains of old boats and huge rocks are causing issues. In Kasba harbour, collision of boats has become everyday affair.

Approaching road work of Kiyooru Kadappura on 1.12 km stretch is also not done. This is also a reason for the delay in the project.

It is believed that the construction of Kasargod fishing port will benefit more than 4000 fish labourers. Appeal is sent to fisheries minister of Kerala to resolve the issue.