The fisheries department is mulling over making bio-toilets mandatory for fishing boats, keeping in mind the hygiene and safety of the fishermen and labourers on board the deep sea fishing boats. This is a step towards maintaining hygiene as well, fisheries department joint director Harish Kumar told DH. The officials have already issued directions to instal bio-toilets in the newly built boats. The bio-toilets have been made mandatory for boats that are being built using the assistance under Mastya Sampada Yojana.
For the already existing boats, financial assistance is given by the government for installing bio-toilets. The boat owners have been asked to utilise the subsidy facilities. Harish Kumar said that the unit cost has been fixed at Rs 50,000. A subsidy of 40% (Rs 20,000) will be given for those boats owned by fishermen from the general category and a 60% (30,000) subsidy will be given for those from SC/ST category and women owners. There is a need for toilets in the deep sea fishing boats that remain in mid-sea for nearly 10 days.
The purse seine and trawler boats remain in the sea for over 10 days during a fishing expedition, he said. Normally, trawlers will have 10 to 12 members on board while purse seine boats have more than 20 members on board. There are several instances of fishermen meeting accidental deaths while attending nature’s call at night while remaining on board the boats. The bio-toilets will be of great help to avoid such deaths, said Harish Kumar.
“We are in the process of identifying the design and fabrication for installing the biotoilets in old boats. The fishermen can also avail the assistance from the government for installing it,” added Harish Kumar. There are around 1,405 mechanised boats in Dakshina Kannada and 2,166 in Udupi districts. Some new boats had installed the bio-toilet facility, he said.