The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has come out with an online GIS-based database depicting the vicinity of fish landing centres to COVID-19 hotspots in Kerala.
The database offers visualisation of the entire 156 fish landing centres in the State in various colour groups in accordance with their geographical proximity with COVID-19 hotspots, the CMFRI said in a statement issued to the press.
The fish landing centres have been categorised into different groups according to their distance from the hotspots. The first category, which requires priority precautionary measures, includes centres located within 3 km of a hotspot. The landing centres at a distance of 3 km to 5 km from the hotspots fall in the second category, whereas the third category includes centres at a distance of 5 km to 10 km from the hotspots.
The data available with the State Health Department has been used by a team of CMFRI scientists to develop the online infographic. The team comprised J. Jayasankar, Shelton Padua, C. Ramachandran, and M.A. Pradeep, the CMFRI communication said. It added that as many as 17 fish landing centres fell within the first category. They are located in Thiruvananthapuram (2), Ernakulam (3), Kozhikode (2), Kannur (4), and Kasaragod (6).
The GIS database is available on the CMFRI website www.cmfri.org.in and can be updated in tune with the changes in COVID hotspots, said CMFRI Director A. Gopalakrishnan.
Work is in progress to incorporate details of fish landing centres in other States too.
