Gujarat to develop 25 fishing centres

The Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), along with the department of fisheries, is harbouring newer destinations for fishing activities in about 25 places in the state.

The government will develop fisheries harbour in seven places at an estimated Rs 93 crore with financial assistance from the Centre. About eight new locations have been identified for setting up the harbour. Besides, the GMB will also construct 10 fish-landing centres at an estimated Rs 14.27 crore.

H K Dash, vice-chairman and CEO, the Gujarat Maritime Board, said, "Our department will not only construct and develop harbour jetties and fish-landing centres but will also share 50 per cent of the total cost. The rest will be furnished by the Centre."

The Jhakhau fisheries harbour project in Kutch has been completed for Rs 32 crore and will be inaugurated shortly. The development of minor fisheries harbour project at Okha is administratively approved by the Centre for Rs 23.46 crore and also approved under coastal regulation zone. It has also been sanctioned under environment clearance, according to GMB officials.

The phase-I of the project includes construction of quay, RCC jetty, drudging reclamation and revetment and has been technically sanctioned for Rs 16.87 crore. Tenders for the work have been received and are under consideration for approval, an official said. Phase-II comprises shores structures, office building, water supply and electricity.

"The Dholai project is under construction and 60 per cent of the work has been completed," Dash said. The entire project is estimated at Rs 14.77 crore and the phase one is for Rs 7.32 crore.

Jaffrabad which was a fish landing centre till now will be converted into a fisheries harbour the cost of which is estimated to be Rs 9.79 crore.

Plans for expansion of Veraval, Porbandar and Mangrol are on and nearby locations are being considered for it.

The Veraval port was developed in 1985 with the help of World Bank to harbour 750 boats. However at present the port holds over 4000 boats as of now. For renovation and upgradation of this the GMB has forwarded a proposal with an estimate of Rs 9.85 crore to the Centre.

Similarly for the upgradation of Porbandar, which holds 2000 boats, exceeding by over 1400 than its capacity, a proposal has been sent for an estimated Rs 3.5 crore.

Similarly for renovation and upgradation of Mangrol, the estimated cost is Rs 32.8 lakhs. Adri, Madhwal, Nava Bandar, Bhadeli, Jagalala, Umargam, are also being explored as potential fishing harbours.

This year, Gujarat witnessed a maximum turnover 7 lakh MT of fish in the country. There are over 31,000 boats and 18,000 mechanised boats in Gujarat. With the new fishing harbours and fish landing centres will help in increasing the quality of fish as it will facilitate better hygenic conditions.

Sartanpur in Bhavnagar, Chanch in Amreli, Mul Dwarka and Mangrol Bara of Jamnagar, Navi Bandar and Miyani of Porbandar, Bhadreshwar and Luni of Kutch and Navlakhi of Rajkot have been identified as fish landing centres. While Navlakhi is estimated at Rs 5,42 crore, Sanchana and Salaya are estimated to cost Rs 2.37 crore and Rs 1.2 crore respectively.