Fishermen languishing in Bangladesh were released

Amaravati: As many as eight fishermen from Vizianagaram district who languished in Bangladesh jail for many months were released on Wednesday. With the continuous efforts of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, we were able to free the fishermen, said Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Mopidevi Venkata Ramana, in a press conference at Secretariat on Wednesday.

The Minister stated that major and minor jetties will be made available for the fishermen in a phased manner.

Venkata Ramana assured the fishermen community that 22 places were identified for setting up major and minor jetties across the State.

Jagan has a special interest in the welfare of fishermen community and as promised earlier, jetties will be provided in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts so that they needn't go to other States like Gujarat for labor work, he informed.

From now on better facilities for fishermen will be provided in our state itself. Fishermen will have better opportunities in the State. In the first phase major and minor harbors and jetties at Vuppada, Machilipatnam, Juvvaladhinne and in phase 2, Budagatlapalem, Eddhuvanipalem, Pudimadaka, Kothapatnam are going to be set up.

For the construction of each jetty, Rs 350 crores are going to be spent with 50 per cent from Union Government and 50 per cent from State government. With an estimated expenditure of Rs 100 Crores, Visakhapatnam harbor is going to be modernised, he added

Andhra Pradesh has almost 40 per cent share in the marine exports in the national market.

In such case, it is very much needed to boost the marine export sector and thus we are providing a subsidised price for electricity by charging only Rs 1.50 per unit, despite having a burden of Rs 550 Crores on State treasury, the minister informed. In the future with advanced methods in fisheries sector across the State will be developed, he assured.