In the aftermath of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s visit to Mobor jetty, in the wake of 5 labourers' deaths to diarrhoea, Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira announced that fees, for abandoned fishing vessels at the Cutbona jetty, would be increased to Rs 1 lakh per month from Rs5000 charged earlier.
The decision was proposed by the committee consisting of Environment Minister AleixoSequeira, South Collector, Dy collector, Mamlatdar, health officials, Boat Owners, Police, Pollution Control Board and GSIDC. The meeting was held on Thursday to discuss issues on illegal structures, cleanliness, and deaths of labourers at Cutbona Jetty.
“A notice will be issued to all the boat owners to remove their abandoned vessels or else the department will confiscate the vessels. A survey will be conducted to evaluate the value of the boats and accordingly, the boats will be auctioned. The fines will be imposed on immediate effect,” added Sequeira.
When asked about the absence of Fisheries Minister, Nilkanth Harlankar for the inspection, Minister stated, “To the best of my knowledge, the minister was busy with his five days Ganesh celebration. The boat owners association were directly interacting with the Chief Minister and all the issues were taken up by the Minister (CM). I don’t know if the issues of boat owners are placed before the (Fisheries) Minister.”
Velim MLA Cruz Silva stated, “The issue of sanitation was persisting long back. Each trawler has 35 labourers and a minimum of one out of 35 has been infected with cholera. The health department, primary health centres, and doctors from Chinchinim Hospital have tried their best to control these outbreaks in past. But these cases were not brought to light by them which should have been done long ago. If the health department fails to submit reports to the officials of other departments, then the cases might increase profoundly.”