The 45-year-old fishing harbour in Vizag will get a facelift soon. The Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) is currently making slight alterations to the detailed project report (DPR) prepared by the Andhra Pradesh fisheries department in order to give the fishing harbour a holistic makeover at a cost of Rs 100–120 crore. VPT will submit the DPR to the central government in a month and work is scheduled to be completed within a year of receiving funds from the Centre. As part of the changes, VPT has planned cold chain facilities at the harbour. “Fishermen lose lakhs of rupees due to lack of facilities to store the catch. We are planning to construct a cold storage in 10 acres land and also have plans for a processing plant,” said VPT chairman K Rama Mohana Rao. Further, existing jetties would be developed to facilitate unloading of marine products brought through boats. A finger jetty may also be constructed. Auction halls of the catch with modern facilities including an effluent treatment plant, solar powered lighting, CCTV cameras and other amenities will be set up at the harbour area. Vizag is the largest export centre for seafood, mostly frozen shrimp, with a turnover of Rs 8,000 crore. The fishing harbour has 11 jetties that were set up in 1976 in 24 hectares land with an estimated cost of Rs 4.5 crore. The VPT chairman said that they have decided to bring in significant improvement in sanitation and hygiene in the harbour area as per international standards. “After completion of development works, our fishing harbour will be one of the cleanest fishing harbours not only in the country but the world,” he said.
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