With the work of desilting River Sal at the Cutbona jetty finally commencing, traditional fishermen in the area have urged the contractor and Captain of Ports (CoP) to ensure that the ecologically sensitive fish breeding area is not touched by the dredgers that are carrying out the work.
The traditional fishermen, whose demands were supported by Velim MLA Cruz Silva, asked the contractor to restrict the dredging activity to the Cutbona Jetty area only so that the rich marine ecosystem, particularly where shellfish are found, is not affected.
It may be recalled that shellfish which had disappeared in the Betul-Cutbona-Assolna belt for the last decade, only returned recently, much to the happiness of the local fishermen, who were struggling to earn their livelihood. Recently, there was a meeting at Betul, with the traditional fishermen, the contractor carrying out the third phase of the dredging work.
Here, the fishermen have shown the contractor the areas where the fish is available and asserted that no work should be carried out in these areas. The Velim MLA, who was present for the meeting, added that the desilting of the river has already been taken up at the Colleadongor area of Assolna-Ambelim belt.