Visakhapatnam Collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad directed the stakeholders of the ongoing modern fishing harbour project to give top priority to cleanliness at the Visakhapatnam fishing harbour. He visited the harbour for the first time after taking charge as the new Collector this month. He asked the project execution team to finish off the works at the harbour at its earliest and make it accessible to stakeholders, including the public. He inspected the ongoing project works along with the officials of Fisheries Department and Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA).
When he enquired about the progress of the project, the concerned officials said that the construction of net-mending building, packing unit, parking area, office space, utilities, restroom, canteen, storage area, effluent treatment plant (ETP) for city and harbour waste, entrance, internal roads, underground reservoir and overhead tank have been completed, and the finishing works are in progress.
Following that, the Collector suggested to the working group to ensure that there is drinking water available across the harbour. Fish waste and general waste in the harbour should be properly cleaned and segregated across seasons, he added. The Collector also said that it was very important to maintain a clean and healthy environment at the fishing harbour. Meanwhile, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) staff has been directed to set up dustbins in the harbour for garbage management.
The Collector was accompanied by Joint Director of Fisheries Department Vijaya Krishna, GVMC Water Supply Officer Ravi, VPA Executive Engineer Arun Kumar and others. On the other hand, the official sources said that the upgradation of existing facilities as part of the modernisation of the harbour was intended to directly meet the current demand and create employment for around 15,000 families.
Catch growth rate of 5 percent per annum is projected to increase from 0.70 lakh million tonnes (MT) at present to 1.16 lakh MT by 2031. Fish catch per day will increase from 150 MT to 383 MT by 2031. Modern facilities like air-conditioned auction hall, conveyor belts that move the fish can reduce the damage caused by human intervention.
The total sanctioned cost of the project is ₹151.81 crore. A total of ₹103.88 crore will be spent on civil and electrical works, ₹14.38 crore on mechanical equipment, ₹6 crore on dredging and ₹27.55 crore on public-private partnership (PPP) sub-projects. The Ministry of Ports gave in-principle approval for the project on 18 April 2022, while the Union Ministry of Fisheries gave its approval to the proposal on 30 March 2022 under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana scheme.