The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Varsity decision lands research centre in trouble

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 19, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Varsity decision lands research centre in trouble

Govind D. Belgaumkar

Transfer of half-an-acre of land to Mangalore Research Centre withheld by KVAFS University

Land row: The biological laboratory of the Mangalore Research Centre of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.

MANGALORE: The decision of the Bidar-based Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University to withhold transfer of half-an-acre of land to the Mangalore Research Centre, a marine fisheries centre, has upset many here.

The centre is one of the 10 such units of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) which functions under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

The land was to be given at the Hoige Bazar unit of the College of Fisheries. The 50-year-old research centre is functioning from a rented building in Bolar near Managaladevi temple. The move has led to fears that the funds released by the Union Government for construction of a modern laboratory could be diverted. Some employees of the research centre and fishermen organisations fear that it could even lead to shifting of the centre outside the State.

The centre has played a vital role in gathering reliable data on fisheries.

The university decided in March 2007 to part with the land for a multi-storeyed laboratory for the research centre.

A year later — when the preparations for singing a memorandum of understanding were on — the university said it wanted to review its decision and kept the earlier order in abeyance.

The university said it was based on a letter received from the Commissioner, Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, who was acting on the direction from the Governor’s office.

The move comes at a time when the Union Government released Rs. 2.5 crore for constructing the laboratory. Sources in the research say that the it had plans to put up a three-storey building with five laboratories — one each for fishes that live near surface (palegic fisheries), that live in the bottom (demersal fisheries), joint-footed marine creatures (crustacean fisheries), other fish (molluscan fisheries) and another laboratory for environment management or pollution monitoring. The building was to have rooms for scientists — presently it has seven of them — and a conference hall.

Equipment

The centre has high-tech Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer that can analyse pollution levels due to presence of heavy metals such as lead and cobalt. Another equipment can study level of pesticides present in water.

The statistics gathered by the centre have led to the CMFRI recommending to the State Government to control the number of trawl boats to prevent overexploitation of marine products along the Mangalore coast. Besides, it has been monitoring pollution levels owing to discharge of effluents from industries in the coastal region.

The research centre has the rare honour of finding a coral fish ecosystem in the vicinity of Murdeshwar.

‘Reliable data’

Dakshina Kannada Parisarasaktha Okkoota president Upendra A. Hosbet says the centre’s data on fish catch was more accurate and nationally respected.

It had helped better understanding of fish-breeding and fish production, he said. It established, contrary to popular belief, that flow of river water in seas is important for ecological balance.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka