The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) under the Ministry of Science and Technology is considering the Machilipatnam coast as one of the suitable locations to set up a ‘Marine Research Institute’, according to sources of the DBT’s Aquaculture and Marine Bio Technology wing’s taskforce. The sources said that the DBT was planning to set up three Marine Research Institutes in India, one each in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
Rs. 300-cr. project
An expert team of the DBT was engaged in identifying suitable site in Machilipatnam, Ongole and Nellore as nearly 100 acres of land is required for the project to be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs. 300 crore .
The site inspection has already been completed in Ongole and Nellore and the team was likely to inspect the Machilipatnam coast in the coming days.
The DBT has already collected necessary scientific and geographical data from all the three locations.
The research institute is likely to focus on conservation of new and endangered marine species, coastal ecology and management, fish pathology and diseases, advance practices in fish and prawn culture, disaster management and more importantly geological oceanography.
“Machilipatnam coast, one of the largest prawn production pockets in India, deserves to be most suitable location for setting up of the Marine Research Institute. It is also a hub of brackish water aquaculture, with country’s most favourable mangrove forest cover for cultivation of mangrove crab ( Sylla serrata )”, opined Krishna University’s Biotechnology Department Head P. Veera Brahmachari.
“Andhra Pradesh, with having the second largest coastline in the Country, is still lagging behind in marine research and in revenue from marine sources when compared to Tamil Nadu,” he added.
On the other hand, it is learnt that a few institutions have begun lobbying for the project to come up in Nellore, which is close to Tamil Nadu, where site was identified near Chidambaram for a similar project.
The institute is likely to focus on conservation of marine species, coastal ecology and management, advanced practices in fish and prawn culture and disaster management
