Paradip, Oct. 5: A fishing trawler carrying six fishermen capsized in the Mahanadi here this morning.

All the six fishermen were safe, sources said.

This is the second such incident in less than two months. On August 24, four fishermen were killed after a trawler capsized in the river.

The river mouth has turned into a danger zone because of huge sand casting, leading to the capsizing of the fishing trawlers.

The fishermen blamed the government agencies for jeopardising their lives.

"The river basin has not been subjected to dredging since the year 2000. As a result, the mouth of the river basin has turned extremely hazardous for most fishing vessels. The basin needs to be of 5m deep for hassle-free movement of boats. However, the depth has now been reduced to 2m because of enormous deposit of soil as well as sand," said Sumant Biswal, the president Odisha Sea Fish Producers' Association.

The vessel crews are risking their lives trying to sail through the shallow waters, Biswal said.

Every month, reports of trawlers capsizing are coming in. In the last 10 months, 13 mishaps have been registered, said an official of the Paradip marine police.

"The river channel that meets the sea from the harbour is heavily silted. This is resulting in mishaps at regular intervals. The harbour basin would be brought up under dredging activity for smooth navigation of seaward fishing vessels," said Alok Ranjan Mohapatra, the executive engineer of Paradip marine fisheries department.

"The dredging of the harbour basin and the river mouth is the need of the hour. Silting and sand casting of the basin and river mouth areas have adversely affected the smooth movement of fishing vessels. The vessels clash with underwater sand dunes. The matter has been brought to the notice of the Centre-run National Fisheries Development Board. We have also sought the assistance of the Central Institute of Coastal Engineering for Fishery," said Mohapatra.

The fishing harbour, commissioned in 1998, has earned the distinction of being the state's largest exporter of marine products.

An estimated 3,500 metric tonnes of high-grade shrimps are exported mainly to European countries every year from the fishing hub.

The annual shrimp export turnover from the harbour is around Rs 150 crore. It accounts for over 40 per cent of the total annual shrimp exports from the state.

The fishing harbour also caters to the need of nearly 700 deep-sea fishing trawlers and 2,000 medium size vessels. Around 50,000 people are dependant on the fishing business here.