The campaign for decongestion of Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour, a long awaited demand among the stakeholders in the fishing industry, is gaining momentum with the owners of a few abandoned trawlers beginning dismantling work.
A better part of the fishing harbour is congested due to either abandoning of trawlers or some sunken vessels lying under water for over a decade. This puts a question mark over navigational safety.
“As per our estimates there are 13 trawlers with court cases and 14-15 others abandoned due to various reasons at the fishing harbour. The new initiative to remove them is a welcome development to ensure navigational safety,” Association of Indian Fisheries Industry president Y.G. K. Murti told The Hindu .
During Cyclone Hudhud that ravaged the fishing harbour on October 14, 2014, an estimated 60 mechanised boats sank and over 200 were damaged as they collided head-on following heavy winds and rain experienced after the storm made a landfall at the Kailasagiri Hills.
The fishing harbour was built by the Visakhapatnam Port Trust over 24 hectares in 1976.
“Lack of space mainly due to the abandoned/sunken trawlers caused a heavy damage,” Ch. Satyanarayana Murthy, a mechanised boat owner said. He said though the fishing harbour was built for 100 mechanised boats, over the years it became berthing place for 700 mechanised boats, 200 beach landing crafts and around 50 trawlers.
Efforts at the highest level with the intervention of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to address the problem of space congestion had not yielded any results due to technical grounds. Sources in VPT told The Hindu that for allowing dismantling of trawlers in the fishing harbour, no-objection certificate from the AP Pollution Control Board is a prerequisite. Due to fear of pollution while cutting the vessels to remove them from the harbour area, the board has been evading requests for issuing the NOC.
Due to this problem, unofficially the trawler owners were advised to take the initiative to cut the trawlers into pieces to dispose them of as scrap.
“The argument of APPCB is not convincing as the abandoned/sunken trawlers neither have fuel, lubricants nor any hazardous cargo or radiation-causing material,” an owner of an abandoned trawler averred.
