ONGOLE: District Collector B. Udaya Lakshmi has asked Mandal Revenue Officers to demolish all unauthorised shrimp ponds which endanger environment in coastal areas.

Addressing the District Aquaculture Authority meeting held here on Friday, she stressed the need to implement the Aquaculture Act which came into force on January 23 this year. It required registration of all shrimp farms lying on either side of rivers, creeks, canals etc up to a distance of 5 km from high tide level. All unlicensed farms should be demolished.

Assistant Director, Fisheries, Lakshminarayana, said 2,640 farmers cultivated shrimp on 5,173 hectares in 46 villages in nine coastal mandals of Prakasam district. Of them 2,115 farmers applied for licence. The Aquaculture Authority of India had sanctioned licence to 1,658 farmers. It had rejected permission to 640 farmers. As many as 200 farmers agreed to rectify mistakes and apply for licence afresh. He said that the new Act permitted district-level authority to grant licence for farms below two hectares.

Details sought

Mrs. Udaya Lakshmi asked the Fisheries Department to furnish the list of farmers village wise for whom permission was denied so that MROs took steps for their demolition. She asked the Fisheries Department to report whether other farmers rectified mistakes so that they were given permission or their tanks were demolished. She asked them to ensure that all farmers apply for licence. They should be granted licence within three months if they conformed to norms or their tanks should be demolished, she said.

She wanted the MROs to certify whether the shrimp farmers had title deeds for the land where they were cultivating shrimp. Ponds constructed encroaching upon Vagu poramboke land should be demolished.

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