Bhubaneswar, Sept. 4: Come Monday and you will be able to gorge on lip-smacking fish dishes prepared in a hygienic condition, that too at a reasonable price, courtesy the fisheries department's mobile van, Fish on Wheels.
Initially, the van will be stationed outside the Chilika fresh outlet at IRC Village. Depending on the response, the state government will decide whether it will roll out to other places.
The initiative is a brainchild of the state fisheries department, the National Federation of Fishers' Co-operatives Limited (Fishcopfed) and the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB). This project has been jointly funded by the NFDB and Fishcopfed, the two organs of the ministry of agriculture.
Officials of the fisheries department claimed that the project was a unique one. The van is a compact vehicle beautifully designed with innovative ideas by engineers from Meerut.
It will have cold storage arrangement, along with cooking facilities in a closed environment. The vehicle has been designed in such a way that it will attract people.
"Dishes consisting of different local varieties, including the Chilika fish, will be included in the menu," said Bishnupada Sethi, commissioner-cum-secretary of the state fisheries and animal husbandry department.
The city already has two Chilika Fresh outlets at Siripur and IRC Village at Nayapalli where people purchase fresh fish at a reasonable rate.
As these fish are sold at hygienic conditions, these outlets have become popular among the residents. The authorities are planning to open another such unit at Saheed Nagar.
Moreover, apart from selling fresh fish from Chilika and its surrounding water bodies, the outlet at IRC village also sells fish pickles and ready-to-eat fish bhujias. This outlet also for the first time started selling frozen fish to the residents.
"As this outlet attracts large number of fish loving consumers, we planned to introduce the Fish on Wheels van here. We are sure that it will carter to the needs of people, and its demand will grow," said an official.
The authorities said with successful implementation of this project, it could be replicated in other districts of the state to cater to the need of fish lovers elsewhere.
