High-level officials of the Central government inspected the fishing harbour site at Mookaiyur in the district on Monday and promised to speed up release of funds for completing the work at the earliest to decongest Rameswaram fishing jetty. The officials Sanjay Panda, Joint Secretary (JS) External Affairs Ministry, Brajendra Navnit, JS, PMO, and Ramesh Kumar, JS (Fisheries), inspected the work at Mookaiyur and expressed satisfaction over the progress. They were accompanied by Collector S. Natarajan, State Fisheries Secretary K. Gopal, Fisheries Commissioner G.S. Sameeran and Commissioner of Fisheries Development Palpandian. The fishing harbour is being built at a cost of Rs.113.90 crore with the Central and State governments sharing the cost on a 50:50 basis, mainly to divert fishermen from fishing in the Palk Bay and getting arrested by Sri Lankan Navy personnel after entering their territorial waters. After the foundation stone for the project was laid in March last, State Fisheries department put the project on fast track and completed nearly 67% of the work, though there had been delay in release of funds by the two governments. The Centre has so far released only Rs.18 crore and State Rs.28.5 crore, but we have completed work for Rs.72 crore with the help of contractors, officials said. Construction of 300-metre-long eastern training wall’ and 418-metre-long rubble mound stone (breakwater) had been completed, officials said. Construction of 370-metre-long western training wall and 495-metre-long diaphragm wall was going on in full swing, they said. After inspecting the facility, Mr. Gopal said the fishing harbour would have facilities to berth 250 mechanised boats and 200 country boats. It would also have facilities such as auction centre, net mending centre, fish drying yard, restroom and radio transmission centre. The officials had been instructed to complete the work by January next, he said. Later, the officials inspected the site at Kunthukal near Pamban, where the government is building a fish landing centre at a cost of Rs.70 crore. At the stakeholders meeting held at the Central Marine Research Institute, the officials interacted with the beneficiaries of deep sea fishing. When some stakeholders pointed out that the cost of a boat exceeded government’s estimated cost of Rs. 80 lakh, especially after the introduction of the GST, the officials said their financial concerns would be addressed.
2018, The Hindu