Fishermen working out of Mangaluru Fishing Harbour can breathe a sigh of relief from the overcrowded Mangaluru old port as an idle berthing jetty is almost ready at Sultan Bathery.
Being built at a cost of ₹ 5 crore, the 100 m long jetty abutting the Phalguni (Gurupura) could accommodate about 35-40 mechanised fishing vessels or more than 60 country vessels.
According to U. Mahesh Kumar, Deputy Director, Fisheries Department, Mangaluru, about 2,000 vessels operate out of the fishing harbour. Despite providing berthing space at the yet-to-be operational third stage of the fishing harbour, fishermen find it difficult to berth vessels resulting in overcrowding at the port.
The Sultan Bathery idle berthing jetty thus offers some respite to these fishermen to berth vessels whenever they are not going out for fishing. Besides space for berthing, boat repair works can be taken up at Sultan Bathery where such facilities exist, he said.
However, the idle berthing facility does not provide for any fishing-related facility such as space for auction and storage, he added. Mr. Kumar noted that fishermen using small, wooden boats were the most affected at the old port as their boats often got damaged by large, steel vessels. The new facility would be of much help to these fishermen, he said.
Prakash Dollin, Assistant Executive Engineer, Department of Ports, said that the jetty is almost ready. However, work on the dredging the channel is under way and the facility could be made available to fishermen only after the monsoon.
Mr. Dollin said the though the department would not provide net mending shed and recreation facilities for fishermen at Sultan Bathery, the Mahajana Sabha managing the affairs of fishermen in the region, could provide them. Already boat repair facilities exist at Sultan Bathery, he said.
The idle berthing jetty is located to the south of the ferry jetty at Sultan Bathery. A concrete road would be built to connect the idle berthing jetty with the main road, Mr. Dollin added.
