The Tripura government has launched a special scheme, in an effort to compensate the authentic fish farmers who end up incurring heavy losses due to poisoning of fish owing to human-created reasons, Fisheries Minister Sudhangshu Das told reporters.
Das said the state government hitherto had no scheme to mitigate the burden of losses incurred by the farmers on such unprecedented situations through extending real-time financial assistance. “This is for the first time, the fisheries department of Tripura has come up with a scheme that will help the farmers to at least face the situation. We have seen cases of poisoning fish-bearing ponds in Tripura are quite common. In most of the cases, perpetrators are driven by personal animosity,” the Minister explained.
It needs to be mentioned here that the opposition CPIM since 2018 had been accusing the ruling party foot soldiers of committing such crimes that deal heavy financial blows on the victim families. According to sources in the Fisheries department, a category-wise ceiling has been capped for the funds to be given to the victims. For one Kani (local unit of land measurement) of water body, the farmer will receive Rs 5,000 while for above 1.5 kani water bodies, the compensation is fixed at Rs 10,000 and if the water body is spread over five kanis of land, Rs 15,000 compensation will be paid to the affected farmer.
The Minister has also announced that the Central government has sanctioned funds for the state’s integrated aqua park which is set to come up at Sathero Miar Haur located in Unakoti district of Tripura. “We have sent a proposal of around Rs 100 crore. The Central Ministry after examining our proposal sanctioned a sum of Rs 42 crore for the initial works. This integrated aqua park will serve as a one-stop center for all fish-related queries of people, be it related to acquiring scientific knowledge or regarding tasting the flavor of fish,” the Minister explained.
The project was sanctioned under Prime Minister Matsya Sampada Yojana which is a national scheme. “I have personally met Union Minister for Fisheries and Animal Resource Development Puroshattam Rupala ji for a couple of times to discuss the project. Finally, we have received a positive nod from the center. The cost of the project would be borne by the Centre and the state in 90:10 ratios,” he added.
The park will be established at a sprawling water body spread over 116 acres of land. “The land we have selected for the project is totally unutilized. Due to the swampy nature of the land, neither it could be utilized for agriculture nor could it be completed converted to a successful fishery land. Around 28 acres of land are owned by the government. The rest of the land will be procured through a lease agreement. Our estimates tell that over 600 to 700 Metric Tons of fish could be easily produced in the area. The employment opportunities shall also rise,” said the Minister.