1st-ever angling fest a huge hit

As many as 30 people took part in the first-ever angling festival held at Eco Park on Friday. The festival was organised by Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) with technical assistance from State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC). The unique feature of the festival was the "catch-n-release" of fishes. Hosted at the behest of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the venue for the event was the 112-acre waterbody inside Prakriti Tirtha. The festival was held in two batches — from 9 am to 12 noon and from 1 pm to 4 pm. The participants brought their own rods and baits and the booking was done online.

Taking into consideration the huge response, the second edition of the festival will be held on April 29. The festival was the prelude to the series of functions that will be held in New Town to celebrate the Bengali New Year on Saturday. Steeve Locket and Chandan Gupta, expert anglers, were its judges. The winners were — Tathagata Nath got the first prize for a 3.4 kg catch. Parasar Naksar was also awarded for a 2.3 kg catch. Evoking tremendous enthusiasm among the participants and spectators, the spirit did not die down despite knowing that they would have to release their catches. Firhad Hakim, state Urban Development minister, who was scheduled to give away the prizes could not attend the function because of an unscheduled appointment. Debashis Sen, chairman of HIDCO, said fishing as a sport was coming up very fast and should be encouraged.