TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: There’s finally good news in store for fishermen and boat owners operating from the Cutbona fishing jetty.
Not only there’s a ray of hope that the hostile conditions at the navigation channel at the river Sal mouth at Betul will be finally overcome with a break water facility a la Malpe, but the Cutbona fishing jetty itself will undergo expansion with an additional 226 meters.
The government has planned to spend a whopping Rs 28.73 crore on the twin projects – river training at the mouth to keep the problem of sandbar and siltation at bay and expansion of the Cutbona fish landing centre.
Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado said the river training project will help keep the river mouth open and allow fishing vessels to move freely round the year. “Around 486 mts of river training will be carried out at the river mouth to solve the problem of sandbar and siltation of the river mouth. This will take care of the long-standing demand of fishermen”, Avertano said.
Fisheries Director Dr Sharmila Monteiro echoed similar sentiments and said the project will be tendered at the earliest to ensure that the twin projects are implemented together. “Since the Centre has approved the infrastructure projects costing Rs 84.15 crore, the tenders will be floated any moment”, she said.
On the sanitation facilities for migrants employed on fishing vessels, Monteiro said the government has already cleared 50 Sulabh toilets for the Cutbona fishing jetty. “These toilets were scheduled to come up on land to be acquired by the government. Since the land acquisition proceedings have been scrapped, we plan to set up the toilet block in possession of the Fisheries Department”, she said, adding “work on the toilet construction will begin no sooner the project gets the nod from the Finance Department”.
Other infrastructure projects planned by the Fisheries Department include construction of the Malim fish landing centre having state of the art auction hall and slip way; development of the Chapora fish landing centre, including dredging to create a basin and river training so as to keep the mouth of the river navigable throughout the fishing season and upgradation of the Cortalim fishing jetty, which will facilitate fishing vessels especially during the monsoons to take shelter at this particular centre.
