525 fishermen to get Indian carp fingerlings at no cost

Kolkata: The state Fisheries department has taken a unique initiative to distribute fingerlings of Indian carp among 525 fishermen in Hooghly.

Each fisherman will be given 1000 fingerlings. The water bodies that had remained unused so far have been cleaned by the labourers under 100 days work.

The project has been taken up under the Jal Dharo Jal Bharo scheme.

The distribution of fingerlings will start from December.

It may be recalled that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had asked the district administration to take initiative to increase the production of fishes.

This is for the first time such a scheme has been taken up.

The fishermen are very happy as they are getting fingerlings free of cost and are given initial training by the officials of the Fisheries department. The officials had tested the soils of the unused water bodies and their restoration began only after getting clearance.

The Fisheries department began feasibility study a few months ago.

As the water bodies had not been used for quite some time the soil was tested to find out if it was fit for fish culture.

The project will be implemented in all the 18 blocks of the district.

Along with fingerlings, the fishermen will be given 40kg lime to maintain the water bodies where the fish cultivation will be carried out.

The fishermen have formed Self Help Groups ( SHG)s. The fingerlings will be released in Damodar and Hooghly rivers as well.

Chief Minister insisted that the production of fishes should be increased to stop their import from Andhra Pradesh. It has been found that there is an acute scarcity of fishes when the supply from Andhra Pradesh is affected. The new policy is likely to help the state to tide over the long-standing issue.