Centre to construct fishing harbour at Kothapatnam

Ongole : The Union government has agreed to construct fishing harbour at Kothapatnam near Ongole with a budget of Rs 400 crore, as soon as the state government provides 40 acre land required for the project.

The fishing harbour and boat handling centre in Prakasam district has been a dream of fisher-men from the region for decades. The fishermen community has been requesting the govern-ment for the harbour at Kothapatnam or Vadarevu for years, every time their boats were dam-aged due to cyclones, and whenever they had to sell the catch to merchants at other places for lower prices.

Responding to the demand from the fishing community, the state government decided to establish new marine infrastructure projects in the state, and the consultant submitted a Rapid Need Assessment and Pre-Feasibility Study Report in 2017.

The consultant recommended developing fishery harbour facilities, including the construction of a breakwater, quay, fish handling and auction hall, fishermen gear sheds, net mending sheds, toilets, boat repair and parking yard, and other facilities at Kothapatnam, and two other locations. Later in 2020, the state government created some buzz about harbours at Vodarevu and Kothapatnam, but they didn’t move beyond the public hearings.

Following the demands of fishermen, the NDA parties promised to construct the fishing har-bour and fish handling centre in Kothapatnam.

Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board chairman Damacharla Sathya met the Union minister of fish-eries, animal husbandry and dairying, Rajiv Ranjan Singh several times and explained the need for the harbour at Kothapatnam.

On Wednesday, the Central government sent approvals for the fishing harbour at Kothapatnam under the Sagarmala-2 programme to the state. The Union ministry informed the state that they would construct the harbour, fish handling centre, cold storage, roads, and anchoring fa-cilities with a budget of Rs 400 crore, and sought 40 acre land in a suitable location near Ko-thapatnam.

When contacted, Sathya told The Hans India that the fishermen community in the district is jubilant over the announcement of the harbour at Kothapatnam. He said that there are already five harbours under construction in the state. Once the harbour at Kothapatnam is completed, about 15,000 fishermen families would benefit from it.