Rural fishermen continue to use various ancient methods for fishing under minor tanks in parts of Telangana.
At Koppole village tank of Gurrampode mandal in the district, the local fishermen use ‘mauram’ (a kind of box) made up of bamboo sticks or Phyllanthus Reticulatus ( Nalla Pulicheru ) or another plant Dubba Duttiri .
The uniqueness of this fishing box is that fishermen can simply keep it on the flowing water against the stream, allowing the water to flow down. If any fish comes in the way, they get stuck in the box, which the fishermen take away from an opening on the upper side of the box.
Speaking to The Hindu , a 75-year-old fisherman, Marri Veeraiah, said that the ‘mauram’ comes handy for elderly people since it needs no physical effort. The septuagenarian said that he had started fishing with a ‘mauram’ at the age of 16. However, the old man lamented that the making of ‘mauram’ was very difficult because one had to spend about 20 days to make the fishing box.
“Neither my sons nor my grandsons know the art of making the box. While my sons have started using various kinds of modern nets available in the market, my grandsons have deviated from fishing because they are into studies,” Mr. Veeraiah said. He further said that they would roam in the fields in the village to find about 500 one-and-a-half-foot long sticks.
He said that they would keep them under the sun for a week to dry them up, after which they would be weaved into a box. The box has two holes which allow the water to flow from it, but there is another hole on the top from where fishermen take away the catch. However, the water flows through the gaps between these sticks.
