The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Fishing in ‘troubled waters’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 08, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Fishing in ‘troubled waters’

S. Harpal Singh

For a living: Villagers casting mosquito nets to catch fish in the overflowing Trivenivagu irrigation project in Indervelli mandal in Adilabad district.

ADILABAD: Can this activity in the middle of an overflowing Trivenivagu project in Indervelli mandal be considered as fishing in troubled waters. This is not just an example of ‘things meaning differently to different people’. Notwithstanding the devastating affect caused by floods earlier this week, some youngsters arrived at the project for fishing. They were improvising too in that they used discarded mosquito nets to net the catch. “Nadi bhar ke aayi to taza machli milti”, says Sone Rao, one of the youth who obviously likes his fish fresh. “It is not usual that floods occur. But whenever the local streams come flooding we catch about 10 kg of fish every day. About a kilo of it is consumed while the rest is sold. This way, we make a couple of 100 rupees,” he reveals.

In the case of large rivers people do not venture out for fear of being washed away. However, they do indulge in some profitable activity even here. When large rivers come flooding the waters carry timber logs of all sizes including twigs. The washed in timber makes for fuel wood that saves considerable money for the poor people.

Like other large rivers, the Penganga also received good inflows due to heavy rainfall in parts of its catchment. People from villages near its banks were seen collecting firewood that was washed ashore.

Maske Madhav Rao from Pippalkuti village on the Maharashtra side of the border had come to the bank on Andhra Pradesh side for the purpose. His bullock cart had already unloaded the fuel wood once during the day in his village. “Sometimes we manage to get two cart loads of wood. But this is possible when the river floods in a big way. If we are lucky we get enough fuel to last four months,” he observes.

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

Andhra Pradesh