Even nine months after its formal launch, dredging work at the Puthiyappa fishing harbour remains a non-starter , making life difficult for fishermen depending on the small harbour for their livelihood.
Only some ground works have so far been completed. Fishermen say the fisheries department and the harbour engineering wing responsible for the timely completion of the work are yet to take note of the delay.
During the launch of the work, the harbour engineering wing had claimed that the unfair weather would affect the dredging process. They had also pointed out that disposing of the dredged sediments would be a problem.
The three-metre dredging work was given sanction by the government as part of introducing better anchoring facilities for the increasing number of fishing boats at the harbour.
“Currently, fishermen have to keep their boats off the harbour during low tide,” said K. Jayachandran, State leader of a party that recently staged a protest at the harbour on the issue.
According to official sources, currently over 700 boats are operating through the Puthiyappa harbour, which is only having a capacity to accommodate 300 boats. Often, bigger boats were compelled to anchor several meters away from the harbour to avoid rush during the peak time of loading and unloading of the fish catch.
Since the development of the harbour from 1996, there has been a steady rise in the number of fishing boats in the region. Larger boats have been emerging as the real challenge with the space congestion at the harbour. According to A.K. Saseendran, MLA, it was this space congestion that actually prompted the government to go ahead with dredging works. “We have also proposed several other projects for the development of the harbour,” he added.
As per the project proposal, the government would spend Rs.12 crore for the completion of the dredging work, for which the contribution of both the Union and State government funds would be utilised. According to Fisheries Department officials, Kozhikode would be benefiting from a total aid of Rs.25 crore during this fiscal for the development of various small harbours.
