Woes of inland fishermen remain unsolved

Srikakulam: The problems of inland fishermen are different from those of marine fishermen. Inland fishermen live at major and minor irrigation projects like Madduvalasa reservoir, Gotta Barrage, Narayanapuram Barrage and at other major water tanks across the district. These inland fishermen are depending on fish hunt and are unable to earn even for their basic needs. The inland fishermen are hunting fish in the irrigation projects and rivers only during rainy season for about three months. For the remaining nine months they have no work.

In the district, there are more than 30,000 inland fishermen spreading in all mandals and depending on local tanks, reservoirs, canals, etc., for fishing. To encourage them in fish hunt, governments used to supply fish seed to them with 40 per cent subsidy. But this year even at the ending stage of the rainy season, seed have not yet been supplied. Most of the inland fishermen are procuring the baby fish from Kaikaluru, Eluru, Bhimavaram within the state and also from Odisha and West Bengal paying more money as it is their livelihood.

“We are unable to earn even Rs 500 a day by hunting fish and not able to attend other works by leaving the habituated occupation,” P Narayana Rao, an inland fisherman of Narayanapuram project, said.