Shankarpur harbour inaccessible without dredging, say Bengal

About 1200-1300 fishing trawlers are unable to offload their catch at a harbour due to delay in dredging a creek between Shankarpur harbour and Digha Mohona in West Bengal's East Medinipur district, said an official of a fishermen body.

As the trawlers are not able to enter the 3-km long creek with low draft, they are moving to Odisha, Digha Fishermen and Fish Traders' Association chairman Pranab Kumar Kar said.

"There has been a delay in dredging the creek between Shankarpur harbour and Digha Mohana. About 1200-1300 trawlers are moving to Odisha as they are unable to enter the 3-km long creek with inadequate draft," he told PTI.

Around 5000-6000 people who are associated with the Digha Mohana fish market are adversely affected, he said.

Kar alleged that the state fisheries department has not carried out proper dredging for last 7-8 years.

When contacted, state fisheries minister Chandranath Sinha said he is aware of the situation and the government is working on to solve the problem.

"During a recent district administrative meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, I had flagged the issue," Kar said.

Last year, a total catch of 1.46 lakh tonne of fish was recorded here, and of which 65 per cent was exported, Kar added.