Jagatsinghpur: A team of experts from the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, has begun a survey of the Alaka river which is now reduced to a "dying" stream following unabated human interference.

Ways and means to revive the river, which has now become a poor shadow of its glorious past, were mooted out by the experts for giving boost to the inland fisheries.

Keeping in view the immense potential and prospects of fisheries and aquaculture development along the river, the team is on a week-long visit to Jagatsinghpur district, said district fisheries officer Gyana Ranjan Samal.

The river, which has considerably thinned down in several places with thinning water flow, has plentiful of fish reserve. It could increase job opportunities through intensive inland fishing, he said.

The river is a lifeline for large number of thickly populated villages in Biridi, Jagatsinghour, Naugaon, Balikuda and Erasama blocks, and it has been severely depleted in shape and size.

Unlawful structures along the river banks flourish, impeding the unhindered flow of water. "Earlier, the river used to be wider. Now, it is decimated and looks like a drain. There have been unabated encroachments that have paved the way to the prevailing mess. The river has got bifurcated near Nailo village in Balikuda block. The Cuttack-Machagaon irrigation canal has posed stumbling blocks for its downstream flow," said Save Alaka Campaign secretary Ratnakar Nayak.

The revival of the river holds the key to agro-based economy of the region. Besides, there is immense scope for pisciculture growth if the river is brought back to its former self. The institute after surveying the area would submit its report to the Union agriculture ministry-run National Fisheries Development Board. "We are hopeful of receiving central grants for fisheries development in Jagatsinghpur," Samal said.