Fishermen oppose new harbour

  • | Saturday | 15th December, 2018

The state government accepted their demand and gave nod for new harbour exclusively for the fishermen at Kuchhadi village, some 10 km from Porbandar.“We object to the setting up of our harbour in Kuchhadi as it is far away from the main port. These boats collide with eachother and get damaged during strong currents and cyclones every year, incurring heavy losses to the fishermen Following this problem, the fishermen had requested the state government to set up a new harbour for their boats. Near the main port of Porbandar, there are ice storages and ice factories to keep our fish supply. If the new harbour is set up in Kuchhadi, we will have to travel all the way to Porbandar to store our fish. As our residences are also near the main port, we will have to shift our families to Kuchhadi.

RAJKOT: Over 5,000 members of Porbandar Kharva Samaj, a local fishermens’ association, took out a rally in Porbandar on Friday, demanding new fishing harbour to anchor their boats near the existing Porbandar main port.Against the capacity of harbouring 1,000 boats, there are over 5,000 fishing boats that anchor at Porbandar Port. These boats collide with eachother and get damaged during strong currents and cyclones every year, incurring heavy losses to the fishermen Following this problem, the fishermen had requested the state government to set up a new harbour for their boats. The state government accepted their demand and gave nod for new harbour exclusively for the fishermen at Kuchhadi village, some 10 km from Porbandar.“We object to the setting up of our harbour in Kuchhadi as it is far away from the main port. Near the main port of Porbandar, there are ice storages and ice factories to keep our fish supply. If the new harbour is set up in Kuchhadi, we will have to travel all the way to Porbandar to store our fish. As our residences are also near the main port, we will have to shift our families to Kuchhadi. Hence, we have demanded that the government set up the new port at Lakadi port, which is near the existing main harbour,” said Bharat Modi, president of Porbandar Fishermen's Association and a member of Porbandar Kharva Samaj.“The government stands to spend Rs 392 crore for the proposed harbour in Kuchhadi. If it sets up the harbour at Lakadi port, it has to spend only Rs 100 crore, as Lakadi is a natural harbour and will not require much spending,” explained Modi.“Porbandar’s main economy thrives on fishing industry. More than 70% of business — such as ice factories, ice storages, transportation and traders into fish export — are based on this industry. If the new harbour is set up in Kuchhadi, it will break the back of overall economy of Porbandar,” he added.The rally began from Porbandar Kharva Samaj Panchayat and ended at the collectorate where the members of the fishermen community handed over a memorandum to the Porbandar district collector.

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Fishermen oppose new harbour
  • Saturday | 15th December, 2018