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Regular-article-logo Friday, 18 July 2025

Harbour promise for Balasore

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SIBDAS KUNDU Published 01.11.14, 12:00 AM

Balasore, Oct. 31: Balasore will soon have two harbours to help marine fishing.

Fisheries minister Pradeep Maharathy announced this yesterday at the concluding event of a regional agriculture fair here.

While one harbour will be set up at Balaramgadi near Chandipur on the outskirts of the town, the other one will be situated at Bahabalpur near Kasaphal fishing base.

The district has been in need of fishing harbours for a long time. Maharathy’s announcement has brought much-sought relief to the people involved in the fishing sector. There are 1,754 registered vessels, including 592 trawlers, 720 motorised boats and 302 country boats, engaged in marine fishing in the region. The annual turnover from marine fishing is around Rs 3 crore and fishes worth Rs 100 crore are exported every year, official sources said.

Owing to the absence of a jetty or a harbour, most of the fishing vessels prefer to trade the catch at Digha and not at fishing bases in Balasore. Babu Patra, a member of the Trawler Owners’ Association, said: “There is an urgent need of a harbour. We face a lot of difficulties due to its absence. We have go to Digha for trading. As a result, our state the loses revenue as well the catch.”

Additional director of marine fisheries Anup Sahu said: “Preparations are on to set up the proposed harbours.”

“The jetty, which was constructed in Balaramgadi near the confluence of the sea and the Budhabalang river, went defunct as the river changed its course and got silted. The jetty became virtually of no use. Hence, it was abandoned,” Sahu said.

For the Balramgadi project, 55.01 acres of land had been allotted to the fisheries department on August 14 and an estimated budget of Rs 48 crore has been earmarked for it. The Rs 35-crore Bahabalpur project requires 15 acres. However, the identified land could not be transferred, as it falls within the jurisdiction of the forest department.

Assistant engineer of fisheries L.K. Sahoo said: “Reports for both the projects are ready. Economic evaluation is being undertaken by Central Institute of Coastal Engineering for Fishery.”

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