The Hindu : Kerala News : Mappila Bay fishing harbour yet to become operational

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 24, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Mappila Bay fishing harbour yet to become operational

By Our Staff Reporter

KANNUR, OCT. 23. The Mappila Bay fishing harbour here is envisaged as a multi-facility location. Even after five years of its commissioning, the project is still to be operational as a facility for fishermen and fish merchants though the former now use the wharf and auction hall for drying and mending their nets and the latter continue to operate from `chapas' (sheds) outside the harbour area.

The fishing harbour with a 20-hectare water-spread area has been developed with the financial grant of the State and Central Government and it includes a basin for berthing 600 mechanised boats, a 200-metre auction hall and beach-landing facilities for traditional crafts. An estimated 50 tonnes of fish caught by the local fishermen reaches the Ayikkara coast every day and nearly 150 tonnes of fish being transported from neighbouring places is disposed of every day at Ayikkara. The fishing harbour would have been the centre of these operations had it not been dogged by various hurdles.

Silt accumulation

Heavy siltation in the basin is a major hurdle to making the harbour operational in a full-fledged way. As there is silt accumulation in the harbour basin and the mouth, fishing boats cannot enter the basin safely. The original project envisaged a 1.5-metre draft of the basin. This is inadequate for present requirements as multi-day fishing boats are high-draft vessels having nearly 2.5-metre draft.

``The fishing harbour for which nearly Rs.12 crores has been spent so far will be rendered useless unless the depth of the basin is deepened to suit the present requirements,'' said the Mappila Bay Development Committee secretary, P.P.M. Ashraf. The Kannur MP, A.P. Abdullakutty, recently submitted a representation to the Union Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, seeking Rs.3 crores for the development of the harbour, including dredging.

Compound wall

The delay in completing the construction of the compound wall of the harbour area is another major problem that delays utilisation of the harbour and its assets by stakeholders. The Harbour Engineering Division (HED) here has already completed 620 metres of the wall. But it is facing stiff resistance from fish merchants opposing construction of the remaining 180-metre stretch that will fence off the harbour area against dozens of their sheds on encroached coastal land used for storing and packing. The Revenue Department is expected to serve notice on the merchants to demolish the sheds.

``The harbour can start its full-fledged operation only after the fencing work is completed,'' said the HED executive engineer, D. Unnikrishna Pillai. The `chapa' business cannot be allowed inside the harbour, which has the auction hall and facilities intended to ensure transparency in the business and good price for the catch. Merchants' stance

The merchants, however, say that they are opposing the wall construction because that will deprive them of their existing storing and packing facilities in the sheds. ``We cannot shift our operation to the auction hall because it is now occupied by fishermen for drying and mending nets. Fishermen for their part are refusing to leave the place for their own genuine reasons,'' said the Ayikkara Fish Merchants Association president, P. Zubair. He said the Association had urged the authorities to identify an alternative place inside the harbour for their operation before it is fenced off.

Daily fish catch at Ayikkara is an average 50 tonnes as against 200-300 tonnes in other harbours a day. According to HED officials, if the operation is shifted to the harbour, the volume of business will go up. The average 150 tonnes of fish being transported to Ayikkara every day for sale from other parts can also be shifted to the harbour. If the total operation in the harbour, including outside fish, comes to around 500 tonnes, it will be Rs.50-lakh business a day if calculated at Rs.10 a kg, they say.

Wooing other users

As nearly 70 per cent a harbour project cost is to develop a harbour basin, efforts have to be made to attract other users of the basin to make it viable. ``The basin should be shared by some other users like cargo users, tourism operators as well as fishermen,'' he said. The revenue from the harbour facilities is paltry. Maintaining the 20-ha water-spread area of the harbour is also cited as another major hurdle. Limiting the water-spread area to 10 ha and dredging the area to develop a four-metre draft are among the proposals being mooted to make the project operational.

As the fishing harbour project leaves much to be desired about its utilisation, a proposal to develop another harbour basin at nearby Thayyil has been strongly mooted by the local fishermen community there. As the area is facing sea erosion threat, development of breakwaters as part of basin development is expected to protect the shore.

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